Hatohiko looked at the operational staff officer who also had a happy expression on his face, and planted a small flag with the number of the 16th Division on Niushou Mountain, nodded with satisfaction and said to the senior staff officer Hesse Daisa: "Hessen-kun, please call back to the commander of Nakajima's division immediately, and say that I congratulate him on becoming the first general of the Great Imperial Empire to break through Zhang Xuewu's absolute defensive circle, and the honor of the 16th Division will be remembered forever in the annals of the Great Imperial Empire, and I want to directly apply to His Majesty the Emperor for his award, and ask him to make persistent efforts. Fight to the end for His Majesty the Emperor, strive for greater honor, and wish the martial arts a long time! Long live the Empire! Long live His Majesty the Emperor! ”

Hatohiko suddenly hesitated and said: "Please send this telegram to all divisions, including the 6th, 13th, and 101st Divisions of the reserve that are rushing in, and order the 17th, 38th, and 39th Brigades of Reading Mixed Brigades transferred from the Kwantung Army to rush to Nanjing before June 2, otherwise let them return to Tianjin by boat!" I'm afraid the Battle of Nanjing is over! ”

Prince Hatohiko of the Asaka Palace made the generals and staff officers of the army present look at each other, the 16th Division paid the price of more than 4,000 killed and more than 1,000 wounded to tear open the position of Niushou Mountain defended by the so-called division of the [***] According to this casualty ratio, it will take 100,000 to completely annihilate the Chinese defenders of Nanjing. 200,000 or even 300,000 casualties?

Can the Imperial Army afford such horrific casualties? The answer is obviously no, the total attack began nearly twenty hours ago, only to tear a gap in the position of the [***], you must know that although the strength of the [***] is insufficient, and it is the remnants of the Songhu battle, but there is still a tiger entrenched in the city of Nanjing!

How could the Tiger Ben of the Rehe Legion be a joke? How is Toshio Tani? The infantry brigade and regiment of the more than 8,000 officers and men who advanced lightly were less than 300 survivors, plus the backward field artillery brigades, cavalry squadrons, baggage brigades, and so on, and the remnants of the infantry brigade and regiment of a first-class field division with a total strength of more than 9,000 people were less than 1,000 people.

Fortunately, the wing flags of the two infantry wings under the 11th Infantry Brigade did not fall into the hands of the Chinese army, otherwise Gu Shoufu would be unable to escape the blame, and I am afraid that there is only one way to follow.

It has only opened a gap in Nanjing's outer defense circle, and the location of Niushou Mountain is indeed important, but it is also necessary to take into account the Jiangjun Mountain Fortress and the heavy artillery unit of the Zhong[***] Rehe Army in Jiangbei, which has not fired a single bullet now, according to intelligence, the heavy artillery division of the Central Army of the Nationalist Axe seems to have also remained in the city of Nanjing, and there is also a force with thirty or forty German-made Type III tanks in the city of Nanjing, plus the hateful jackal tanks of the Rehe Army, and the emperor [***] who attacked the position of the [***] The team will be extremely powerful at any time.

The crazy words said by Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace are simply a laughing stock in the eyes of professional military staff officers, proving that he lacks the most basic military common sense, but the identity of Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace is there, and everyone can only agree with him, and the explanation of finding fault with His Royal Highness can only be tired.

Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace turned around and came to the map with a spring breeze on his face, and before receiving the report of Nakajima Imago, Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya once again doubted whether he had kicked Zhang Xuewu's defense plate again, and the general attack was launched for nearly twenty hours, but the various troops participating in the attack received nothing but heavy casualties.

Now that the gap has finally been torn in Niushou Mountain, one of the seven key points of Nanjing City, then the 11th Division of the Yamamuro Zongwu Division can attack the Jiangjun Mountain Fortress with all its might, and the 16th Division can support the flank attack on the Jiangjun Mountain Fortress, while the main force will directly advance into the Qinhuai River defense line, as long as the Qinhuai River defense line is broken, then the Nanjing city wall will be just around the corner.

After the 11th Division attacking the fortress of Shogunyama lost two infantry brigades in a row, the division commander Yamamuro Munetake immediately ordered the troops to stop the attack, advance forward by means of civil engineering nuggets, push the attack position to the foot of the mountain, dig Z-shaped trenches and cooperate with temporary fire support points to cover mortars.

However, the 16th Division's Nakajima Imasago Division's Shoupo Niushou Mountain was greatly recognized by His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of the Asakanomiya Palace, and Yamamuro Sotake's heart was naturally indignant, how big is Niushou Mountain, such a fierce artillery fire and heavy army group with a chariot assault, the losses are so serious, his own attack on the outer position of the Jiangjun Mountain Fortress only lost two infantry brigades, can this result and loss be comparable? The most important thing is that although His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya is a lieutenant general in the army, his military literacy is indeed very limited.

There is a popular saying in Lu Da that it is the army's ignorance, tactics, and strategy! If you have to say that His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya has any specialty, then it can only be said that His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya "can eat"! If there is any other special advantage, it is "especially delicious!" ”

Such a Acting Commander, His Royal Highness the Prince, represents not only the military department, but also the imperial family, and the one behind His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of the Asakanomiya is His Majesty the Emperor who is the supreme emperor.

The 11th Division under the command of Yamamuro Sotake consisted of two infantry brigades, of which the 10th Infantry Brigade was commanded by the brigade commander, Major General Amaya Taniya, and had the 12th Infantry Wing and the 22nd Infantry Wing, while the 22nd Infantry Brigade was commanded by the brigade commander, Major General Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu, and had the 43rd Infantry Wing and the 44th Infantry Wing.

Yamamuro Sotake was very unhappy after reading the draft of the telegram of Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya, so he summoned the two brigade commanders under him to the headquarters, and faced Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu and Naiti Tanijiro, who also looked very ugly after reading the telegram, Yamamuro Sotakeshi asked with a cold face: "Both, what should we do now?" ”

Naïve Tanijiro was furious and yelled: "Nakajima Isasa, as the commander of the division, can he still remember how to write the word shameless?" If he breaks through along the Qinhuai River, the credit for the first breakthrough of Nanjing belongs to him, and I have no complaints, what kind of behavior is he? Where is the honor of the Emperor of the Emperor [***]? What are we comparing? Is it a competition to see who is more shameless? Who is more adept? Sacrificing so much wealth to capture Niushou Mountain, he is also embarrassed to report to His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Chaoxiang Palace? ”

Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu was even more angry and said: "His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of the Asahika Palace is also true, and Niushou Mountain can also be regarded as a fortress?" [***] can garrison a division of troops in a palm-sized place above? How many divisions does Zhang Xuewu have in his hands? Just put a division of troops on the small Niushou Mountain, waiting for our shells? Did Nakajima think that the enemy was as stupid as he was? His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace is so indistinguishable from wrong, which will seriously affect the morale of the commanders, and the result of the urging will lead to errors in the judgment of the commanders, and the consequences are very serious, which even the guys who graduated from Lu Shi understand. ”

As soon as Yamamuro Sotake heard the innocent Tanijiro and Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu two open-mouthed guys talking more and more, he hurriedly stopped the two of them and said: "You two bastards are too much, Nakajima Imasago is also Shangguan, and it is always a bad thing to be rumored to insult Shangguan's ancestors behind his back, and besides, His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace, you dare to talk nonsense?" The decision of His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya is the decision of the Imperial Council of the Military Department, and His Royal Highness Prince Hatohiko of Asakanomiya comes to Nanjing to represent His Majesty Emperor Hirohito, do you think His Excellency Chief Ishii Matsune is really sick? First, he had already analyzed from the judgment of the intelligence department that Zhang Xuewu was likely to arrive in Nanjing, and would command this defensive battle, not wanting to fight Zhang Xuewu head-to-head and damage his prestige, and the second point was to cede the honor of capturing Nanjing, the capital of China, to the royal family. ”

It was only with Yamamuro Sotake's words that the innocent Tanijiro and Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu suddenly realized, and then they were also embarrassed! As a general, it is obviously not enough to understand military affairs, if you want to enter the room, you also need to be able to strategize in many aspects, as a joke in the staff headquarters, the guy who can be a man will rise fast!

Yamamuro decided to attack the northern slope of the Shogunyama Fortress with the 12th Infantry Wing of the Tianzhengu Brigade, and cooperate with the 22nd Infantry Brigade to attack the southern slope of the Shogunyama Fortress.

The 30th Infantry Wing of the 16th Division originally carried out the task of interspersing the flanks of the Niushou Mountain Fortress, but now this task has been changed to assist the northern slope of the General Mountain Fortress, which is equivalent to investing the strength of two infantry brigades at a time on the north and south slopes, which is equivalent to investing the strength of one division and regiment.

Ye Yunfei stood in the command of the Jiangjun Mountain Fortress, and taught Xie Chengrui, the commander of the Second Regiment of the First Brigade of the Corps, and Liu Zishu, the commander of the Sixth Regiment of the Second Brigade Department, to concentrate in the central command room, that the General Mountain Fortress has complete garrison fortifications, especially the permanent underground cantonment caves and underground communication trenches, which can cover the troops to mobile reinforcements to the positions on the north and south sides, the batteries on the main peak positions can rotate 360 degrees, and the four 12-inch naval guns and the 105-mm artillery group of the Navy Department cooperate with the 75-mm field artillery group. It can cover the area around Mt. Shogun indiscriminately.

Therefore, once the army launched an attack, it must attack quickly, and get out of the minimum angle of fire of the 12-inch naval guns and the 105-mm howitzers as quickly as possible, although it is impossible to avoid the shelling of the 75-mm field artillery group, compared with the 12-inch naval guns and the 105-mm howitzers, the damage of the 75-mm field guns can be regarded as within the tolerable range.

(To be continued)