Chapter 622: The War of Resistance in Songhu lures the enemy

Jiang Guangding thought for a while and said: "Wenbai, although we are going to inflict heavy losses on the three divisions of the Japanese army, we still have to eat one bite at a time, and before the two subsequent divisions of the Japanese army arrive in Shanghai, we should also weaken the strength of the ninth division first, so as to facilitate our follow-up operations-1-"

"I think so, since the old devil Ueda gave us an ultimatum, let's just stimulate him again, don't wait for him to give the order to attack us, let's shell him first, lure Ueda, and before the Japanese follow-up troops arrive, we will command the Ninth Division to attack us, and we can hold our position."

"In this way, first, we can destroy a large number of the living forces of the Ninth Division, and second, it will not affect our plan to severely damage the last two divisions of the Japanese army......

It should be said that Jiang Guangding's proposal to weaken the Ninth Division first was very constructive, and Zhang Zhizhong did not think that 70,000 Japanese troops could be easily wiped out with 90,000 troops. If the Japanese Ninth Division is inflicted heavy damage before the arrival of the next two divisions of the Japanese army, it will be very helpful for the later operations.

"Okay, I agree, just do what Brother Jingran wants."

As a result, from 7 o'clock in the evening of the 18th, the artillery of the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army began to bombard the Japanese positions in Hongkou, and the 9th Division immediately returned fire. However, because it was night, the effect of the artillery bombardment on both sides was not great.

On the 19th, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a letter of protest, condemning the Japanese demand as "unreasonable" and declaring, "If the Japanese army attacks again, the squadron will still resist with all its might." ”

Since then, negotiations have become a fantasy, and only iron and blood can speak.

Jiang Guangding's deployment was as follows: The 88th Division used the 262nd Brigade to occupy the line from the north end of Jiangwan to the south bank of Yunzaobang, including Qianxiaochang Temple, Zhuyuandun, Maijiazhai, Miaohang Town, Zhouxiang, and Caijiazhai, and the rest of the troops were assembled near Maqiao; The 87th Division used the 261st Brigade to occupy the line from Hujiazhai and Jijiaqiao and Caojiaqiao to Satang on the north bank of Yunzaobang. The 259th Brigade assembled near the site of the fire; To the south of the 88th Division, is Zhang Yan's 61st Division; The 60th Division still held on to Zhabei; The 78th Division of Ou Shounian served as the reserve of the 19th Route Army; Shi Ming's 187th Division and Sun Liren's Independent Brigade served as the general reserve of the whole army.

For the bombardment of the squadron, Ueda was really angry, not only immediately ordered the artillery to fire back, but also ordered the troops to launch a fierce attack on Zhabei early the next morning.

The 9th Division of the Japanese Army deserved to be the permanent division of the Japanese Army, not only the artillery fire was fierce, but its combat effectiveness was by no means comparable to that of the Japanese Marines, and the 60th Division suffered more than 500 casualties in just one morning, and the 60th Division was pressed back, and Cai Tingkai had to transfer the Weng Zhaoyuan Brigade of the 78th Division, which was a reserve, to the front line as reinforcements, and only then did he finally stabilize the battle line.

Zhabei is located in the urban area, which is not conducive to the deployment of large troops. Moreover, it does not conform to the roundabout outflanking strategy that the Japanese army has always advocated. Therefore, Ueda decided to expand the scope of the attack, focusing the attack on the line of Jiangwan, Miaohang, and Dachang, intending to break through the defense line of the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army, and outflank the Zhabei defenders from the flank.

The Akiyama Yoshiyoshi Brigade of the 9th Division began in the afternoon, with the support of heavy artillery and aircraft, to attack the positions of the defenders in the town of Miaohang. The defending 88th Division put up a heroic resistance, killing many Japanese soldiers. At night, the Japanese continued to attack, and the sound of guns and artillery continued at night. Because of the bombing of Japanese aircraft and the suppression of Japanese heavy artillery during the day, the mountain artillery regiment of the 88th Division did not dare to open artillery to suppress the attacking Japanese army, and only then did it begin to support the defenders in the forward position with artillery fire. On the same day, the 61st Division of the defending army in the Jiangwan direction also engaged in fierce battles with the 35th Wing of the Japanese Army, where there were even several hand-to-hand battles.

On the 21st, fierce battles continued in the direction of Bazi Bridge and Jiangwan, and although the 88th and 61st Divisions suffered heavy casualties, the Japanese could not advance half a step.

Seeing that the attack was fruitless, Ueda knew that he was a little underestimated, and his mind gradually calmed down and changed his tactics again. In the following days, the Japanese army suspended its attack on Bazi Bridge and Jiangwan direction, and narrowed the focus of the attack to the direction of Xiaochang Temple, Zhuyuan Dun, Maijiazhai, and Miaohang Town. However, the 88th Division on the left flank and the 261st Brigade of Song Xilian fought tenaciously, not only withstanding the Japanese attack, but also shooting down a Japanese carrier-based aircraft. …,

The real core battle of Miaohang Town began on the morning of the 22nd, and the remaining brigade of the 24th Brigade that was not annihilated broke into the position of the 3rd Battalion of the 527th Regiment of the 264th Brigade of the 88th Division at the eastern end of Miaohang Town and the area around the Mai family house and its southern cemetery. For a while, the entire front was shaken, and the 61st Division was in danger of being divided and surrounded by the Japanese army, and the situation was extremely critical.

Yu Jishi did not dare to delay, and immediately ordered all the reserves of the 88th Division to enter the battle, and Yu Jishi even personally went into battle to supervise the battle, repeatedly charging and killing the Japanese troops at the gap in the battle line, wanting to recapture the position and plug the gap. In half a day, the 88th Division suffered heavy casualties, and even the 264th Brigade and deputy brigade commanders Qian Tilun and Huang Meixing were wounded, and the commander of the engineer battalion was killed, but it still did not repel the Japanese army and recapture the position.

Seeing that the entire front was about to be exhausted, Zhang Zhizhong immediately led the teaching corps to the 88th Division to personally command, and ordered the 259th Brigade of Sun Yuanliang of the 87th Division to reinforce Miaoxing, and ordered Song Xilian, who was defending the north bank of Yunzaobang, to lead the main force of the brigade to cross the river from Jijiaqiao to copy the enemy's flank, and ordered the 88th Division to continue to carry out continuous counter-assaults on the enemy's breakthrough area.

After Cai Tingkai learned that the situation in Miaohang was serious, in order to attract the Japanese army, he immediately launched a counterattack against the Japanese army on the entire line from Jiangwan to Yunzaobang, and ordered Zhang Yan of the 61st Division to lead two regiments to attack Zhuyuandun from the northwest end of Jiangwan to flank the Japanese army.

After receiving the order, Song Xilian, who had already been gearing up, immediately commanded the 261st Brigade to cross the river from Jijiaqiao. The Japanese army did not expect that thousands of squadrons would dare to break into their rear from the flanks, so there were only two brigades left to monitor the troops of the 261st Brigade.

Under the counterattack of the 61st Division, the 261st Brigade of the 87th Division, and the 88th Division, the Japanese army was flanked on three sides, and the 6th Brigade was not only unable to gain a foothold, but even in danger of being encircled, so Akiyama Yoshiyoshi had no choice but to order the troops to withdraw from the positions they had occupied. The remnants of the Japanese army were not completely wiped out until 8:30 p.m.

The battle of Miaohang on this day was so tragic that it was the fiercest battle since the 128 Incident, and the 88th Division alone had its chief and deputy brigade commanders wounded, the battalion commander killed 9 people, the company platoon commander suffered more than 20 casualties, and the soldiers suffered more than 2,000 casualties. After the war, Chinese and foreign newspapers unanimously believed that this was the most tenacious battle fought by the squadron in the Songhu Anti-Japanese War.

The Nationalist Government also sent a special telegram of encouragement to this end: "Since the battle of the temple on 22 July, the reputation of our army has increased tenfold in the international arena. In successive days, public opinion in various countries has praised our army for its courage and invincibility, while the reputation of the Japanese army has plummeted. I hope to encourage the officers and men to work hard! “

In the meantime, on February 21, under the order of General Zhang Zhizhong, the 518th Regiment of Sun Yuanliang's 259th Brigade advanced to Feng's house under the command of Yu Jishi, and on the 22nd, the third battalion of the 518th Regiment participated in the battle of Miaohang Town. The remaining two battalions were under the command of Li Yannian and fought fiercely with the Japanese army at Mai's house.

The 88th Division suffered heavy casualties, and after discussing with Jiang Guangding, Zhang Zhizhong and Jiang Guangding ordered the 88th Division to withdraw to the vicinity of Xitang Bridge to rest, and the position north of Miaohang to Caijiazhai was taken over by Sun Yuanliang's 259th Brigade, and south of Miaohang to Jiangwan was taken over by Zhang Yan's 61st Division.

On the 22nd, the Japanese army, which had lost its red eye, poured out of its nest and first bombarded Miaohang Town with more than 50 heavy artillery pieces for more than 4 hours, and then under the cover of aircraft, the infantry began to charge, and most of the forward positions and deep fortifications of the 259th Brigade were destroyed, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties! However, the defenders still stubbornly held their positions, fought to the death and did not retreat, many positions changed hands several times, and after several days of fierce fighting, Miaohang Town was still firmly controlled by Sun Yuanliang.

On the 25th, the Japanese army changed its tactics again, concentrated the main force of the 9th Division, and stormed the Maijiazhai position defended by the 87th Division.

The Japanese attacked frantically for a day, and although they also rushed to the position several times, they were all beaten back by the brave and fearless counterattacks launched by the defenders, and the Japanese army still ended in vain.

In a fit of rage, Ueda ordered to concentrate all the heavy artillery and launch a general attack on the Mai family's house.

At 8 o'clock on the 26th, after 100 minutes of heavy artillery preparation, the Japanese army launched the most ferocious attack on Mai's house since the beginning of the war. Under the heavy bombardment of Japanese artillery for many days, the fortifications of the 87th Division had already been completely destroyed, and the defenders suffered heavy casualties, so part of the position was lost around 11. After receiving the news, Jiang Guangding immediately mobilized reinforcements from the 61st Division and the 78th Division, and the two regiments of the 19th Route Army, which had just arrived, held bayonets without waiting for the Japanese army to adjust their deployment, and immediately launched a fierce counter-charge, and drove the Japanese troops who had not yet gained a firm foothold out of their positions. …,

After fighting for more than a week, apart from inflicting heavy casualties on the other side, no breakthrough was made, and it can even be said that no results were achieved. Moreover, the 9th Division itself suffered more than 3,000 casualties. At this point, Ueda had to admit that the 19th Route Army and China's elite Fifth Army were very tenacious, and he was too contemptuous of each other and overconfident. He also finally understood that he alone could not solve the Shanghai problem.

In the days that followed, while waiting for reinforcements, Ueda did not launch a large-scale attack, but only carried out a few local attacks, the purpose of which was only to consolidate the occupied area and create better conditions for the arrival of reinforcements.

On the 29th, the Japanese army dispatched the 4th commander of the army, Shirakawa Yoshinori, to Shanghai with two divisions, the 11th and 14th, and the Japanese aircraft carrier Chicheng arrived in Shanghai along with these two divisions.

At this time, the three aircraft carriers that Japan could put into operation, the Fengxiang, Akagi, and Kaga, all rushed to Shanghai. At this time, Akagi and Kaga were still three-stage deck layouts, with 56 aircraft each on the two aircraft carriers, and 108 carrier-based aircraft on the Fengxiang. There were 80 planes of the Japanese Army Aviation Corps that were transported to Shanghai by merchant ships.

Shirakawa Yoshinori succeeded Ueda Kenkichi as commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and Army General Takashi Hishigari served as commander-in-chief of the Shanghai War.

At this time, the Japanese army had invested more than 90,000 troops in Shanghai; 41 warships, including 3 aircraft carriers, 10 cruisers, 3 gunboats, and 25 destroyers. If you include some other ships belonging to the Japanese army, such as gunboats, transport ships and other ships, there are a total of 80 ships. 300 aircraft.

After Shirakawa Yoshinori took over as commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, he learned the lesson of the failure of the previous three commanders in the frontal attack, and decided to land on the Liuhe River from the flank, and flank the Songhu defenders on both sides.

On 1 March, the 9th and 14th Divisions were ordered to attack the Song and Shanghai areas head-on in order to contain and oppress the defenders. The 3rd Fleet escorted the 11th Division into the mouth of the Yangtze River and landed at the mouth of the Liuhe River, Yanglinkou, and Qiyakou, intending to outflank the rear of the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army.

On the morning of 1 March, the 9th and 14th Divisions of the Japanese Army launched a general attack on the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army.

After a day of fierce fighting between the two sides, the Japanese army was still unable to break through the defensive line of the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army, and it was not until 5 o'clock in the evening that the 11th Division of the Japanese Army landed at Liuhe, Yanglinkou, and Qiyakou, and the 19th Route Army and the units of the Fifth Army began to gradually withdraw to Jiading, the preset position of the second line of the Taicang line as planned.

The Japanese army was bent on encircling the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army in the eastern Hudong area, and not only the 9th and 14th Divisions were in hot pursuit, but the 11th Division of the Japanese Army that landed also plunged into the rear of the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army.

At about 1 o'clock in the morning on 3 March, the 517th Regiment marched from the temple to camp near Loutang, which was only 15 miles away from the Liuhe River. But at this moment, the Japanese troops of the two brigades swooped over from the Liuhe River, intending to cut off the retreat of the 517th Regiment, so the two sides launched a fierce battle in the area of Zhujiaqiao and Sizhu Bridge.

After the battle began, the Japanese army gathered more and more, and the artillery fire became more and more fierce, and the three outpost companies of the 517th Regiment not only quickly suffered nearly half of the casualties, but they were all besieged by the Japanese army, but Sun Yuanliang gave a death order, in order to ensure the smooth retreat of other troops, the 517th Regiment must not retreat. Therefore, the three companies of the 517th Regiment were still fighting to the death under the siege of the Japanese army on all sides, so that the Japanese army had to stay near Loutang, so that the main force could safely withdraw to the second-line position.

The fierce battle lasted until 8 o'clock on the 3rd, when the main force of the Japanese army of about 4,000 men arrived, not only launched a full-line attack on the 517th Regiment's position, but also began to detour to the right flank of the 517th Regiment.

The officers and men of the 517th Regiment, who had not advanced all night, were finally broken through by the Japanese army due to the huge disparity in strength, and a squadron of the Japanese army even rushed to the front of the 517th Regiment on the north bank of Zhujiaqiao. At the critical juncture, the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 517th Regiment, which was in reserve, was killed, and only then, together with the regimental guard company, repelled the Japanese troops who broke into the position.

Because all the troops were retreating, although they were evacuating according to the pre-plan, but also because a large number of Japanese planes were bombing along the way, and the troops were covering and scattering the march, the troops could not be retracted for a while, so Sun Yuanliang had to take the guard battalion to personally rush to the headquarters of the 517th Regiment to command the battle.

Knowing that some troops were besieged in Loutang, Zhang Zhizhong also urgently ordered the 1st Regiment of the Independent Brigade, which had been withdrawn to Penglang Town, to quickly reinforce it, and on the other hand, he ordered the 261st Brigade, which had just withdrawn to Taicang, to go forward to cover the left flank of the 259th Brigade, and ordered the 88th Division in Jiading to block the right flank of the 259th Brigade to prevent the Japanese from interspersing, and then entrap the 259th Brigade into the encirclement.

At this time, the Japanese army in the Loutang area had increased to more than 8,000 people, and the attack was wave after wave, and the 517th Regiment was fighting alone, and it was about to run out of ammunition and food, and the situation was extremely critical. After noon, the positions were successively broken through by the Japanese army, and the Japanese army crossed Loutang and pointed directly at Hejia Village......

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