Chapter 435: Rekindle the flames of war

This is not the first time that Tang Qiuli disobeyed orders on the battlefield, after the battle of Pingjin in North China was fought, he reported to the Military Commission and the old man, and the result caused a lot of criticism, fortunately he won, which inspired the confidence and courage of the people, and the old man was also happy about his achievements, otherwise, the end would be miserable.

On the eve of the Battle of Songhu, regardless of the old man's disagreement, the troops of the four infantry brigades, one artillery brigade, and one air defense brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps were the first to enter the downtown area of Shanghai, and the result was to become the pillar of the first battle of August 13.

Tang Qiuli didn't have more thoughts to ponder this, as long as he could keep Shanghai safe for the time being, the Japanese army's butcher's knife could not reach Nanjing, every qiē was meaningful, he had no regrets, the war had been fought so far, and it had become his most taboo two-front battle, the strength of his own hands was overstretched, the main force of the Central Army was far away, once Shanghai was lost, what would he do to remedy it? Therefore, the 140,000 troops of Brother Qiusheng's Sulu Mobile Corps are his biggest bargaining chips in the direction of Shanghai, how to use it, according to the needs of the battle, as for the old man's thoughts, he can't take care of it.

In response to the Japanese government's statement of 15 August, which was full of lies and reversed black and white, the Nationalist Government issued a very strong "Declaration of Self-Defense and War of Resistance" on 16 August, declaring that "China will never give up any part of its territory, and in the event of aggression, it can only respond with the exercise of its natural right of self-defense, and all the people will also take it as their duty to defend the territory, even if the territory is stained with blood." ”

The statement showed the attitude of the national government toward Japan's military attack, and it was also Chairman Chiang's attitude of really making up his mind to fight the Japanese to the end since the July 7 Incident.

At 8 o'clock in the evening of 16 August, the 10th Group Army (i.e., the Sulu Mobile Corps of the Independent Division), with the strength of two infantry brigades and one artillery brigade, under the command of Chief of Staff Chang Feng, launched an attack on more than 20,000 Japanese marines stationed at Hongqiao.

At the beginning of the battle, the progress of the troops was not smooth, Hongqiao was a stronghold operated by the Japanese army for many years, with a large number of strong fortifications and anti-artillery shelters, the firepower points were dense, the surrounding civilian houses were forcibly demolished by the Japanese army, and within a range of one thousand meters around the stronghold, it was an open field, and the attacking troops did not have any obstacles to use, all of which were violent under the fierce fire of the Japanese marines, and the Japanese army held here at risk, hoarding a large number of ammunition, food and drinking water, claiming that it was no problem to hold on for more than a year.

The first battalion of the third regiment of the first brigade, which was responsible for the main attack, was tightly pressed in place by the fire of the Japanese army, unable to move, and the battalion commander's anxious eyes were on fire, and in front of him were the remains of dozens of soldiers, which were hit by Japanese machine guns at the beginning of the attack, and the troops had to retreat, and the first attack was declared a failure, and dozens of soldiers were killed.

The artillery battalion in the regiment rushed over to support, dozens of mén 92 infantry guns and mortars bombarded violently, the Japanese stronghold was dusty, bricks and tiles were flying, the fire was shining, the soldiers shouted happily, the hatred in their hearts was relieved, the shelling stopped, the gunpowder smoke dispersed, and the Japanese stronghold was as silent as death, without a sound.

The battalion commander waved his hand, and the soldiers of the whole battalion rushed forward like water, and suddenly, the dead Japanese stronghold was resurrected, spewing out a viper-like fire, and the soldiers of the first battalion who were charging in the open area were swept down by this sudden bullet, and the soldiers quickly lay down, but in the unobstructed open land, they still became the target of the Japanese shè attack, and the Japanese mortars also began to shell.

The battalion commander ordered the trumpeters to blow the retreat trumpet, but under the dense bullets of the Japanese army, how could they withdraw, the regimental artillery battalion saw that things were not good, and hurriedly suppressed the artillery fire, and with the billowing smoke, while the sight of the Japanese army was temporarily blocked, the first battalion finally withdrew.

However, a battalion of more than 800 soldiers, who were able to come back alive, only 200 people, most of them were wounded, and more than 600 young soldiers were lying on the land of Shanghai forever, and their blood stained the ground under them.

In the two attacks, more than two-thirds of the casualties of the first battalion of the third regiment of the first brigade were disabled, and the formation was disabled, and when the general attack began less than a xiǎo, the left arm of the first battalion commander was hit by a bullet, and the blood soaked through the sleeves of the military uniform, and ticked on the ground along his wrists.

He stared at the blood-red eyes, turned around suddenly, and stared at the commander of the regimental artillery battalion angrily, the commander of the artillery battalion lowered his head guiltily, he saw all the tragic scenes just now, and blamed himself for his mistakes so much that his heart ached, hundreds of shells were shot out, even a piece of iron lump could be exploded, why was the Japanese devil okay?

The attack was completely blocked, and when the general attack began less than a month, the casualties of the troops had exceeded more than 2,300 people, but they did not even come close to the range of 500 meters of the Japanese Hongkou fortifications, and the Japanese fortifications were unusually strong, and the designed angle and slope were calculated by jīng's heart, and the shells hit it, and even a large piece of hún concrete could not be blown up, and a large part of the explosive force was skillfully unloaded.

If the fight continues like this, the 30,000 people of the two brigades will be filled in, and they will not be able to gnaw at the strong fortifications of the Japanese army, and the sweat of the commander Chang Feng will come out, since the troops have joined the Songhu battlefield, they have not fought such a battle, the Japanese fortifications cannot be penetrated, the shells cannot collapse, and the 30 or so heavy artillery of the artillery brigade cannot accurately shell the target because of the limitations of the terrain and vision, not to mention, a thousand meters away, there is a dense residential area.

What to do? In the direction of Yangshupu, there was the sound of gunfire, that was General Zhang Zhizhong's Ninth Army, where the Japanese Marine Corps was besieging more than 8,000 troops, which made Chang Feng even more anxious, and the order given by Commander-in-Chief Tang was to take the Japanese Hongkou stronghold in five xiǎo hours, and then support General Zhang Zhizhong's Yangshupu direction, and clear the remnants of the Japanese army in the city.

But now the attack was frustrated, the casualties of the troops were severe, Chang Feng was also a veteran of the independent division, in the Mudanjiang Campaign in the northeast, he was discerned by the then commander Tang Qiuli, from an ordinary soldier, transferred to the staff office, many years of war career, but also experienced countless wars, grew into today's senior generals, but now there is nowhere to start, and the shelling and bombing are ineffective, it is the first time to encounter.

Time passed, the sound of guns and cannons in the direction of Yangshupu was even more intense, the Ninth Army did not have its own multiple weapons, and it needed more support, the Japanese army in the urban area could not be solved, and the Japanese army in the Songhu battlefield from the Japanese mainland would rush to the Songhu battlefield again, and the squadron would face an extremely dangerous situation.

Several brigade commanders couldn't bear it, and asked to organize death squads, use the body of a warrior, for the follow-up troops to attack, pave a bloody road, of course Chang Feng can't do this, that's a senseless sacrifice, how many people are not enough to fill in, the troops are exhausted, what to use to complete the task given by the commander-in-chief Jiāo? He pondered nervously in the command.

Instead of being anxious here, it is better to go to the forward position and take a look at the field, Chang Feng took several brigade commanders and staff officers to the position of the first brigade and the third regiment and one battalion, which is the battalion with the largest casualties among the main attacking troops.

Because he is the supreme commander of the campaign, all the casualties are caused by poor planning, and the reconnaissance of the Japanese stronghold in Hongkou is not careful enough in advance, and he has an unshirkable responsibility, Chang Feng is a person who is good at self-summary and criticism, and Tang Qiuli also admires him the most.

In the dark night, the tongue of fire spewed out from the fire point of the Japanese stronghold, like a pair of devilish eyes, Chang Feng gritted his teeth, carefully observed with a telescope, and could see the traces of the shelling, but almost all of them were slightly damaged, if there was enough time, an artillery brigade, continuous shelling at one point, for about three days, would definitely be able to knock a crack on the turtle shell of the Japanese army, but time did not allow.

The discussion of several soldiers reminded him that they were talking about fighting Japanese tanks on Baoshan Road, that iron guy was not as hard as the turtle shell in front of him, otherwise, our gun would have come in handy, Chang Feng's eyes lit up, and he mobilized the anti-tank gun detachments of each brigade to the direction of the first battalion, which was the main direction of attack, and opened this passage, and the stronghold of the Japanese army lost its effect.

According to the arrangement of the common wind, forty-eight anti-tank guns were lined up, erected in front of the fire point facing the most intense Japanese fire, relying on the temporary construction of five soldiers who had been killed.

Dense light and heavy machine gun bullets, flying locusts generally hit, the anti-tank gunners did not shè hit, five casualties, the rest of the fighters, did not blink their eyes, according to the chief of staff's orders, loaded armor-piercing shells, all the anti-tank guns, all concentrated shè in one gun, where, a tǐng Japanese heavy machine gun, is pouring bullets like crazy.

The armor-piercing bullet with the bright tail flame in the dark night, accurately drilled into the gun hole, a dull explosion, and then, dozens of bullets rushed into it like a meteor rushing into it, and the Japanese heavy machine gun was dumb at that time, and thick smoke and fire came out of the gun hole.

The rest is easy to solve, as long as the artillery fire is concentrated and bombarded along the cracks, this turtle shell will be smashed piece by piece, and as the Japanese fire points become dumb one by one, the troops have entered the charging position, and in front, the Japanese devils are to be completely eliminated.

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