The battle of Guanghuamen has been fought for 45 hours from the afternoon of December 7 to the noon of the 9th, since Commander Tang Shengzhi withdrew the 25th Regiment to Qixia Mountain for rest, until now, it is the 89th Regiment of the 88th Division that is struggling to support the front line of Guanghuamen.

After nearly two days of fighting, the main peak position outside the city wall had been lost, and the defenders outside the city had to withdraw into the city to fight a defensive battle.

After the latest round of Japanese artillery fire was over, Tie Haichuan, the commander of the 89th Regiment, had no time to take care of the dirt on his body, and ran to the battlements of the city tower in the chaotic crowd. He raised his binoculars with both hands and aimed ahead, only to see that the 3rd Wing and the 6th Wing of the Japanese Army had merged into a group of attack echelons, and the target was directly aimed at the Guanghuamen Tower and was ready to make a forced attack.

"Tuanza, the devil is ready to attack the city gate, what should I do next?" Jiang Jiyuan, deputy of the regiment, roared.

Tie Haichuan angrily shook off the telescope in his hand and roared: "Pass my order to drill machine gun holes on the city wall, and as many machine guns as there are holes!" Then give me the five Czech light machine guns lent to us by my brothers' troops and put them on the roof of the tower, and as soon as the first echelon of the Japanese army begins to attack the city gate, they will beat me hard! ”

"Yes! Tuanza! ”

The commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, was sitting quietly in an open-air command post at this time listening to the report of a training staff officer: "Your Excellency Division Commander, the headquarters has sent the latest information about the commander of the Guanghuamen garrison: It is reported that the Chinese troops currently fighting our Ninth Division are subordinate to the 89th Regiment of the 88th Division of the National Army, and the commander's name is Tie Haichuan, male, 27 years old at the time, with the rank of colonel, who graduated from the Sixth Infantry Section of the Wuhan Branch of the Whampoa Military Academy. After graduation, he was also sent to study at the German Higher Military Academy for two years, and returned to China after completing the basic department, the staff department, and the specialized department of the service headquarters, and officially took up his post in the combat sequence of the Central Army. ”

"German Higher Military Academy? So, our opponent is still an alumnus of the famous German military theorist Clausewitz? ”

"General, it can be understood in this way."

"Well, I graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and was sent to Germany to study for two years, as far as I know, there are not many middle-level officers in China who have such a resume. In this way, he has not served in the combat unit for a long time, and in only five years so far, he has been promoted from a cadet to a regimental-level officer with thousands of men...... However, although this guy's resume is wonderful, I don't have much interest in him. My concern is that the number of the Chinese defenders who had been engaged with us the afternoon before yesterday had been found, and to tell you the truth, the Chinese officer was a difficult fellow, and if we had not used artillery in the absence of their backup, they might not have withdrawn into the city so sooner. I only pray for a little now, that the Chinese officer is still alive, and that if I can fight him again, I will cut off his head with my own hands and put it on the desk of Commander Matsui Ishine as a specimen. ”

After roughly turning over a few pages of the document in his hand, the training staff officer stopped his gaze on a piece of paper with a small space although the text was clear: "General, according to the information provided by the internal line, it has been verified that the Chinese army that fought with our Ninth Division on the afternoon of 7 July is subordinate to the 25th Regiment of the 67th Division of the Nationalist Army, and the commander is named Yang Longfei, male, Chinese New Year's Eve, with the rank of colonel, who studied in the fifth infantry section of the Huangpu Military Academy in Guangzhou, and moved to Nanjing with the school the following year to graduate, and has no experience of studying abroad. After graduation, he entered the combat sequence of the Central Army, starting as an infantry platoon commander, and then served as a company commander, battalion commander, and regiment commander all the way up the ranks, and never did a deputy position. He has participated in the Central Plains War launched by Chinese warlords, and his combat style is known for his courage and toughness, with strong willpower, belief in the Three People's Principles, belonging to the centrist party members, not extreme in beliefs and views, and no interest in politics...... It is worth mentioning that this Chinese officer named Yang Longfei took part in the second 'Shanghai Incident' more than three months ago, and the 67th Division of his unit inflicted heavy losses on the 11th Division of our army in the Luodian area, and its combat effectiveness can be seen. ”

"Hmm, Yang Longfei? Remember this person's name, this is an opponent worth dealing with and fighting with your heart, Hattori-kun, you see, I will definitely cut off this guy's head with my own hands and fulfill my previous promise! ”

"Yes, General, my subordinates believe that you will be able to fulfill your promise...... "The training staff officer closed the document in his hand, knocked his feet, bowed deeply to Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, and left the command room. Picking up his words was his adjutant, Major General Nozawa:

"General, my first echelon is ready to attack the city gate!"

"Very good, pass on my order, the first echelon immediately launched a forced attack on the Guanghua Gate Tower, and the second and third echelons will catch up later, I will personally command the artillery to coordinate the operation, I hope they must occupy the fortifications from the Guanghua Gate wall to the city gate within half an hour. Tell them that I will see through a telescope whether the Sun Flag will be raised on time on the main peak of the Chinese army, which is also a proof of the future commendation measures for the 3rd and 6th Wings......"

The air that was silent for a while once again condensed into a tense atmosphere full of * smell, accompanied by a rough shout, the first attack echelon of the Japanese army nearly 3,000 soldiers rushed like bloodthirsty beasts like a tide to the battle-torn Guanghuamen Tower......

At this time, a total of 28 machine gun holes dug by Tie Haichuan's order had all been completed, and only Tie Haichuan waved his hand, not only the machine gun holes poking out from behind the city wall, but even the five Czech light machine guns erected on the battlements of the city tower were fired almost at the same time...... A dense network of 33 light and heavy machine guns turned the fortifications within the walls into an impenetrable barrier.

Given that the first half of the battle was almost always a defensive battle, most of the soldiers used rifles and* in order to save ammunition and avoid the dilemma of running out of equipment when they were later engaged in regular combat.

The first echelon of the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, and row after row of attack waves fell one after another, and corpses were strewn all over the field. However, the second and third echelons of attack did not give up their charge because the attack was blocked, on the contrary, the fearlessness they showed in their charge became stronger as the defenders' artillery fire became more ferocious. The Japanese soldiers, who had been brainwashed by militarism, showed a dismissive attitude towards death, believing that they were born in this world to sacrifice their lives for the future of the empire, and if their ashes could be enshrined in the Yasukuni Shrine by the government as heroes after their deaths, it would be their life's pursuit and the highest honor.

The first echelon attack was blocked, and simply launched a positional battle on the spot and launched an upward and downward attack with the Chinese defenders on the city tower. In less than 15 minutes, the first echelon of the Japanese army suffered more than half of the casualties, and the second echelon then made up for it......

Lieutenant General Ryosuke Yoshizumi is a typical short-sighted eye, and even wearing glasses does not help. If you want to see the specific battle situation of Guanghuamen 800 meters away, you can only use the assistance of a telescope......

Ryosuke Yoshizumi silently put down the binoculars in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed, and his face solemn. It turned out that the dozens of "apertures" embedded in various parts of the city wall, which appeared from time to time, turned out to be machine gun holes smashed open by the Chinese defenders. It is no wonder that the destructive power of the firepower network organized by the Chinese defenders is so strong that it is absolutely impossible to create such lethality with the five light machine guns on the battlements of the tower. Lieutenant General Ryosuke Yoshizumi, who was originally confused, understood everything......

"Report to Your Excellency, the latest information provided to us by the War Department on the strength and armament of the Guanghuamen defenders has been delivered...... According to statistics, the Chinese defenders of Guanghua Gate have dug a total of 28 firing positions for machine guns to be erected on the city wall, in the middle and below, and a total of 5 Czech light machine guns are arranged in turn at the battlements on the top floor of the city tower, and the moat on the periphery of the Guanghua Gate wall is 135 meters long and 4 meters deep, and the water level is as high as 3.3 meters, and it continues to grow......"

"Wait a minute......," Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke stretched out his hand to interrupt the training staff officer's report, "Hasn't the water in the moat of Gwanghwamon been drained by the Chinese defenders long ago?" What's going on now? Where does the water come from? ”

We do not know this, but one thing is certain that there was an underground water pipe in the moat that connected to the city of Nanjing, and there is no doubt that the Chinese defenders could only store water in the moat again through the sewer pipe...... Not only that, but the Chinese defenders on the tower also blew up the wooden bridges on both sides of the moat, and dug two anti-tank trenches along the berm directly in front of the city gate. Five lines of live barbed wire were pulled outside the trench and extended into the city, and according to the news from the third and third attack echelons, there were also barricades and *...... on the shore and two wings of the moat," the training staff officer then reported.

After saying that, a hideous smile appeared on Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke's face: "It's funny, I always send heavy troops to carry out forced attacks on Guanghua Gate, and our opponents are always breaking their heads to defend the city gate. You know, the best defense is offense, and blind defense is just a passive situation caused by the influence of my attack echelon. Telegraphed the second and third echelons of attack, where did they attack? ”

"General, five minutes ago they sent the progress of their attack along with the above report, and as expected by the lowly position, the sun flag has been raised in the walled position at this time......

Just as the training staff officer had predicted, the plaster flag, which symbolized the coexistence of the Japanese Imperial Army's righteousness and militarism, had already penetrated into the fortifications built by the Japanese military and fluttered like a plague in the wind......