Chapter 383: Repelling the Third Fleet
If the Battle of Nanjing had entered the 13th day since it was bombed by Japanese planes, the entire history of the Battle of Nanjing had finally changed under Li Tie's painstaking management.
According to the original history, on December 13, the Yamada detachment occupied the Wulongshan Fort with one expense and one shot, which led to the complete collapse of the Chinese defenders in Nanjing.
At the same time, due to the loss of the Wulongshan Fort, the Japanese Third Fleet had to sail into the Yangtze River unimpeded, directly to the Xiaguan Wharf, and carried out a fierce artillery bombardment of the Nanjing soldiers and civilians who were fleeing from the wharf.
In just one day, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who were crossing the river fell under the attack of Japanese planes and gunboats.
Also on the 13th, the Japanese army entered the city of Nanjing in a big way and began to engage in street battles with the defenders scattered all over the city. Moreover, the Japanese army gave full play to the mobility of its heavy artillery and tank units, divided and surrounded a large number of Chinese defenders, so that these defenders could not take care of each other, and soon wiped out the defenders in various parts of Nanjing.
At the same time, due to the orderless retreat of Nanjing City at that time, hundreds of thousands of people were congested at Xiaguan Wharf, and Tang Shengzhi at that time also left Nanjing, and as a result, the defenders of Nanjing City, who lost their unified command, were captured by most of the Japanese army, and finally caused the Nanjing Massacre, where 300,000 soldiers and civilians were killed.
The defense of Nanjing in this life is different, as the two major reasons for the loss of Nanjing, the first Cihu Town has not been broken through by the Japanese army, and the Guoqi detachment that was originally going to cross the Yangtze River north to outflank Nanjing's back road has been wiped out early.
Today, Cihu Town, as the most important wharf for the Japanese army to cross the Yangtze River north, is still firmly in the hands of the Hainan Independent Regiment.
Another important reason for the defeat was that the Wulongshan Battery, which Xu Yuanquan retreated privately and was easily occupied by the Japanese Yamada detachment, was also in the hands of the Chinese due to the sudden appearance of the magical regiment of the Hainan Escort Army.
At the same time, after defeating the Yamada detachment, the Magical Regiment also disrupted the entire offensive plan of the Japanese army, and at this time the Wulongshan battery was intact, and the Japanese warships still did not dare to appear on the surface of the Yangtze River outside Nanjing.
At this time, although the Japanese army also occupied several major city gates, Matsui Ishone received the wrong military information that Yamada's detachment was ambushed by a large Chinese army, and he ordered the attack on Nanjing to be suspended.
This also caused the Japanese army, which had just occupied several city gates, not to directly attack the city of Nanjing and start street battles, but to actively build fortifications to prevent the counterattack of the Chinese army.
Matsui Shigen's caution for a while provided great convenience for the retreat of Nanjing. Although the current defenders of Nanjing City have also fallen into chaos because many generals and troops have not said goodbye.
Fortunately, now China and Japan are afraid of fighting wolves, and the fighting in Nanjing has gradually stopped. The 36th Division, which is responsible for garrisoning the Xiaguan Wharf, no longer serves as a supervising team, but instead takes on the important task of directing traffic.
Thanks to the efforts of the officers and men of the 36th Division, 50,000 Nanjing civilians were transported to the north bank of the Yangtze River from the afternoon of the 12th to the afternoon of the 13th.
At the same time, because 10,000 Hainan guards had set up defensive positions at Xiaguan Wharf and the main streets of Nanjing City, many Nationalist troops who had not yet received the order to retreat took the initiative to stay and help the Huaxing Guards block the Japanese army.
And there was no major battle in the city of Nanking on the afternoon of the 13th.
Because everyone was looking at the direction of the Wulongshan Fort, which was more than ten kilometers east of Nanjing City, they heard that the battle there was very fierce. A unit of the Hainan Escort Army, called the Magical First Regiment, has once again created magic.
In only half a day, they defeated the 5,000 Japanese troops of the Yamada detachment who came to attack, and eliminated more than 3,000 people of the Yamada detachment, and their own casualties were indeed less than 100.
Such a strong combat effectiveness shocked the entire Nanjing command. At this time, Tang Shengzhi did not leave the Nanjing front-line headquarters in advance like in the previous life, they stayed in the headquarters like many generals, and they were ready to leave Nanjing at the last moment.
Sitting in the Nanjing front-line headquarters, it was rare not to hear the distress calls from all over the city of Nanjing, everyone took advantage of this rare quiet time, looking at the direction of the Wulong Mountain Fort, and the sudden roaring sound came from the Wulong Mountain more than ten miles away.
Tang Shengzhi's heart tightened. "This is the sound of the fortress cannon firing from the Wulongshan Battery, could it be that the Japanese army dispatched warships?" ”
At this time, there were traces of battle everywhere on the guard position of the Wulongshan Fort, and just half an hour ago, a total of 48 planes from the three Japanese aviation groups had just come to the Wulongshan Fort to bomb it.
Under the efforts of the Miraculous First Air Defense Battalion, nearly 100 anti-aircraft machine guns kept firing angry bullets at the planes in the air, and the Japanese planes were also like crazy, constantly diving into the defenders who bombed Oolong Mountain.
Under the attack of soldiers on both sides, the Japanese finally blew up several obvious air defense positions in Wulong Mountain, but they also suffered heavy losses, a full twelve planes were shot down by the air defense battalion, and the air defense battalion sacrificed a total of 16 anti-aircraft machine guns, and nearly 100 soldiers were killed and wounded.
When the Japanese planes had just finished bombing, there were earth-shattering cheers from Wulong Mountain, and it seemed that a miraculous group had defeated the attack of the Japanese planes.
The Japanese planes were also satisfied, although they lost twelve planes, they clearly saw that their fleet blew up at least three heavy artillery positions on Oolong Mountain, as well as two air defense positions.
It even killed and wounded the Chinese soldiers hidden in the middle of the mountain and around the top of the mountain, don't think that we pilots of the Imperial Japanese Army who hid in the woods could not see it. A handful of your soldiers are running through the bushes, and the ambush in the woods has been exposed.
When some of the planes dropped bombs on the woods, a lot of cloth and equipment were scattered in the woods.
After several rounds of bombing, the Japanese pilots believed that more than half of the tens of thousands of Chinese defenders at Wulong Mountain would be killed or wounded. On the top of that small mountain, where can the Chinese soldiers hide except in the halfway up the mountain and in the surrounding woods?
So the three captains of the Japanese air group happily returned home.
They didn't know that the officers and men of the fortress troops of the Wulong Mountain Fort also cheered happily, the battle in front of them was too enjoyable, and when the plane came, they hid in the air defense fortifications in the belly of the mountain, and kept watching the battle in front of them safely. Only then did they discover that the original air defense battle could still be fought like a magic group.
As soon as the soldiers of the Magical Regiment arrived at the Wulong Mountain Fort, they set up several fake artillery positions around the fort. I saw that the soldiers of the magical group were very quick to take out blank pieces of paper and pile up the trees and stones around them.
Then a few blank sheets of paper were painted with a few strokes, and then the stones were laid out, and the shell piles were drawn, and then a few empty ammunition boxes were thrown to the side, and then the logs were erected, and then some camouflage nets were draped over the round wood, and a very realistic artillery position was created.
They built three such artillery positions. Then they piled up a lot of quilts and military uniforms in the surrounding woods.
There were also many military uniforms stuffed with padding disguised as magical groups of soldiers, placed in several obvious places on the Wulongshan Fort to attract the fire of Japanese aircraft.
Then the Japanese planes were fooled, and as soon as these planes came to the Wulongshan Fort, they ignored the anti-aircraft machine guns and rushed to the fake artillery position.
As a result, it took a lot of effort for the Japanese planes to blow up these artillery positions, but the soldiers of the air defense battalion also killed several planes.
Then the planes turned their noses again and began to bomb in the woods near the Wulongshan Fort, and when the quilts, uniforms and a large number of dummies were hit, the rags and cotton wool flying all over the sky made it seem that they had hit a large number of Chinese soldiers in ambush.
While the Japanese planes were attacking again, nearly 100 anti-aircraft machine guns hidden around the fort once again showed great might and destroyed several Japanese planes again.
It was at this time that the Japanese planes that had dropped their bombs staggered back.
The officers and men of the national soldiers of these fortress units happily ran out of the air defense fortifications one by one. I saw the air defense battalion that did not sacrifice many people at all and the magical regiment that was hiding all over Wulong Mountain.
The morale of the soldiers of the fortress troops was greatly boosted, this is the battle that the Chinese army should fight, it turns out that the battle can still be fought like this. A large number of false targets attract the fire of enemy aircraft. The real killer moves are all hidden, and you can swoop out when the enemy is least aware of them, so as to inflict a lot of damage on the enemy.
Look at the magical group of soldiers in front of you, it has only been less than a day, first killed more than 3,000 Japanese devils, and now has eliminated 12 Japanese fighters, what a fierce record.
The soldiers of the fortress thought to themselves that they had escaped after the successful bombing of the cannon last night, otherwise they would not have seen such a brilliant battle.
Seeing the well-equipped and well-trained Magical Regiment, most of the officers and men of the fortress army took the initiative to join the Hainan Guard.
The commander of the Magical Regiment was of course very happy when he heard that these fortress troops actually wanted to join the Hainan Guard.
You must know that their Hainan Escort Army really does not have a fortress force that can fight fortress artillery, think about Hainan Island is as big as it is, and it is surrounded by the sea on all sides, if there is the surrender of these fortress troops, and with the strong support of Li Tie, who is rich and rich, then it is not possible to make Hainan Island guard impregnable.
Commander Liu Aiguo, who successfully turned to an entire fortress force, immediately sent the request of the fortress troops to Li Tie in Nanjing, and Li Tie of course accepted it with a smile.
He told Liu Aiguo that as soon as the defense of Nanjing City was over, he would immediately retreat with the fortress troops. He really lacks soldiers for these fortress troops.
Liu Aiguo, who had obtained Li Tie's consent, immediately talked with Zhang Jintao, the deputy head of the fortress troops, and when he learned that the Hainan Guards finally agreed to accept the fortress troops, Zhang Jintao and the fortress troops present were greatly demoralized. Everyone expressed their resolute obedience to the command of Regiment Commander Liu Aiguo and would firmly guard the Wulongshan Fort.
Just as everyone was happily celebrating that they had become a family, the soldier in charge of looking out at the surface of the Yangtze River in the distance reported that an unknown fleet had been spotted twenty kilometers ahead.
Deputy Commander Zhang Jintao, the supreme commander of the fortress troops, immediately came to the telescope of large magnification, and he soon saw the Third Fleet flying the flag of the Japanese Navy through the telescope.
Zhang Jintao immediately ordered loudly: "All officers and soldiers enter the artillery position, the direction is 15 degrees northeast, the distance is 20, adjust the Zhu Yuan, and prepare to open fire." ”
Hundreds of fortress troops immediately entered the various huge fortress artillery fortifications, and soon four cannons were aimed at the southeast.
Commander Zhang Jintao once again determined the direction and speed of the enemy's fleet, and then, with his order, a huge cannonball was fired from the fortress cannon.
With a bang, the entire fort shook, and the sound of the huge fortress cannon firing could be heard even in the city of Nanjing, which was more than ten miles away.
Then, after a short period of deafness, Zhang Jintao found through the telescope that the first fortress cannon shell did not directly hit the enemy's warship, but the huge attack power of the fortress cannon still set off a huge splash on the water surface and overturned a gunboat next to it.
The temporary fleet formed by the Third Fleet, which was attacked by the Wulongshan Battery, found that the Wulongshan Battery, after being bombed by the planes, could still fire such accurate artillery, and was so frightened that it immediately dispersed and fled.
Just kidding, none of the enemy's batteries were blown up and paralyzed, so wouldn't it be self-defeating to let these destroyers fight with the fortress? They weren't armored cruisers, they weren't battleships, and they didn't have that much of a heavy gun to bombard the fortress guns.
So the temporary fleet, which had been ordered to come, turned around and retreated only after being attacked by the first fortress guns of the Wulongshan Battery.
Thankfully, they had withdrawn early, because when they had just stopped advancing and were reversing rapidly, more of the fortress shells fell on the Yangtze River, hitting the surface of the water where their warship had been staying.
Seeing that the Chinese fortress was shelled so accurately, the commander of the fleet immediately reported to the Japanese command outside the city of Nanjing that this was a trap, and the Chinese troops had laid an ambush early and waited for them to enter the waters of the Yangtze River. and destroy them on the water.
Fortunately, they were able to avoid major damage early in the morning, but one gunboat was overturned by the waves because it could not dodge.
Now they are converging with the Third Main Fleet, and the Temporary Fleet is requesting tactical guidance. They hoped to get the support of the armored cruiser's huge guns, and then take the initiative to attack Oolong Mountain.
Hearing the news that the Provisional Fleet had been repulsed by the Oolongshan Fort without firing a single shot, Matsui Ishone became angry with the navy for the first time, and he scolded these sailors for not having the spirit of bushido. It is not worthy of being called the title of the Great Japanese Imperial Army at all.
However, Matsui Shigen, who finished venting, quickly calmed down, since the defenders of Oolong Mountain were still able to maintain such a strong combat effectiveness after being bombed by three brigades of aircraft, it just showed that the number of Oolong Dragon's troops was large and their fighting will was tenacious.
In this case, he should completely annihilate the defenders of Wulong Mountain and deal a huge blow to the defenders of Nanjing City, so he issued a combat order again.
Immediately send a heavy artillery brigade from Nanjing City to reinforce the Japanese army at Wulong Mountain.
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