Chapter 535: Blood Fertile Kaifeng (3)

Relying on the three defensive positions preset on the periphery of Kaifeng and adopting the method of echelon blocking, Su Jingfeng's troops supported until dark, crippled a main division of the Japanese army, and their own casualties also reached more than 4,000 people.

If there is no artillery fire from the artillery regiment, the third defensive position may be broken through by the Japanese army, which provokes the fierce retaliation of the Japanese artillery, and suffered great losses in the battle with the Japanese artillery, with two-thirds of the artillery loss, and the superb technology and the bravery of the soldiers cannot offset the numerical inferiority.

The commander of the artillery regiment choked up on the phone and reported to Su Jingfeng: "Commander, most of our artillery losses are over, and the Japanese army is more than 20 artillery pieces against me with one artillery, but please rest assured, commander, even if there is one artillery left, the artillery regiment will provide fire support for the front line, and the artillery will run out, and I will take the soldiers as infantry." ”

In the face of such subordinates, what can Su Jingfeng say? This was originally a war of attrition with a huge disparity in strength, and the division commander would not let the troops fight this kind of battle unless it was absolutely necessary, he knew Tang Qiuli's command art too well, and because of this, he felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavier.

Taking advantage of the night, Su Jingfeng ordered, except for a small number of troops, to monitor the Japanese army in the third line of defense to prevent a sneak attack, the main force, immediately implement the original battle plan, withdraw into Kaifeng City, prepare for street fighting, according to the division of labor, responsible for the battle in their respective areas.

The troops withdrew into Kaifeng City, and Su Jingfeng set up the headquarters not far from the west gate of Kaifeng, so to speak, the headquarters was the front line, which was strongly opposed by the chief of staff Wang Dongshan, who blushed and said to Su Jingfeng: "Commander, I firmly oppose you to set up the headquarters here, and I am responsible for your safety." ”

Su Jingfeng looked at himself strangely, the usually good-tempered chief of staff, it was a matter of the position of the command, why such a fierce reaction, he came up with an idea, let the chief of staff retreat to a relatively safe place with the command, and he stayed at the front to command the troops, Su Jingfeng was very proud of this method.

Wang Dongshan was speechless for a while, it seems that the commander is determined not to transfer the headquarters, Wang Dongshan knows the responsibility on his shoulders, Su Jingfeng is the supreme commander who commands tens of thousands of troops, his safety directly affects the combat effectiveness and military morale of the troops, as the chief of staff, no matter what, he can't let him take such a risk.

He knew his commander too well, he was a master who liked to fight tough battles, and when he heard the sound of gunshots, he would not die, and he could fight with a machine gun in person, and when he went to the garrison corps of the Yellow River and Henan Defense Line to take up the post of chief of staff, the division commander specially talked to him, and the most important point was to ensure the safety of Commander Su and prevent him from personally leading the charge.

But now, the commander did not obey his own advice at all, Wang Dongshan frowned, turned around a few times, turned around and walked into the communication office, seeing that the chief of staff was no longer annoying himself, Su Jingfeng smiled triumphantly, and focused on the defense of Kaifeng City.

After a while, Wang Dongshan came back, holding a telegram in his hand, and without saying a word, handed it to Su Jingfeng, Su Jingfeng looked at the chief of staff in surprise, opened the telegram, it turned out to be sent by the division commander, and the first sentence at the beginning was, "Big man Su, how is it?" Can you afford it? The little devil is ruthless to take Xuzhou this time, you Su is a big man who is blocking the way of others, and he doesn't spread all his anger on you."

Su Jingfeng smiled, the division commander rarely used this kind of ridiculous tone to talk to himself, however, with a sense of cordiality, his heart was warm, remembering that time in the Northeast, there were only a few thousand people, and the division commander was shouting like this big man all day long, now, there are more people and horses, but there are few opportunities to meet, think about it, I haven't seen the face of the division commander for more than half a year.

The next words made him scratch his head, "I heard that your unit lacks a company commander, and you demoted yourself to a company commander?" The headquarters is also set up in a position close to the front, okay, do you want to send you a machine gun overnight, holding the little devil who swept wildly, is that enjoyable, order you, the headquarters of the garrison corps, must retreat to a safe place, you said that the commander of nearly 30,000 officers and soldiers, not the company platoon commander who charged with a machine gun, I am waiting for your news. ”

Su Jingfeng completely understood, it must be Wang Dongshan who couldn't convince himself and moved the division commander out, he glared at Wang Dongshan fiercely, Wang Dongshan looked innocent, but his eyes flashed with victory, and he didn't care about himself, he was busy directing the staff officers to pack up his things, Su Jingfeng had to shake his head helplessly.

The sun had just jumped out of the eastern horizon, and the western suburbs of Kaifeng, which had been silent for only one night, were violently shelled by the Japanese army, breaking the quiet morning, this time, Isoya Ryosuke used all the remaining tanks, yesterday, from about 10 o'clock in the morning, until the evening, although it occupied the two defensive positions of the independent division troops, but the price paid by the first army was also extremely heavy, with more than 9,000 casualties, and it had not yet formed a unit to annihilate the independent division.

Ryosuke Isoya didn't want to waste time in Kaifeng, judging from yesterday's battle situation, there were not many troops to block his own independent division troops, otherwise, according to Tang Qiuli's troops, they would have already carried out a fierce counter-assault, and their troops might have been beaten back to Zhengzhou.

After the artillery fire, the Japanese tanks were in front, and behind were a lump of infantry, which was the newly replaced Katayama Hirono Brigade, and after supplementation, the Katayama Brigade was restored to a complete structure, and Koyama Masao was promoted to captain, the original captain, who deigned to become his subordinate deputy, was being severely reprimanded by him, and instructed him to lead a squadron as the leading assault force of the brigade.

The Japanese tanks roared and rushed to the position, the expected fierce resistance, did not appear, rushed to the position of Koyama Masao, the back of the head of the backbone of the big movement, he tasted the sweetness of the overstepping report, crossed the wing and brigade, and directly sent the telegram to the headquarters of the First Army, "The Koyama brigade, has completely occupied the third line of the Chinese army, and has now arrived at the city of Kaifeng, requesting an immediate attack." ”

Ryosuke Isoya, who saw the telegram, was speechless for a while, he had also heard of this guy's name, with the strength of two brigades, within a few hours, he conquered Anyang, Hebi and Xinxiang one after another, and defeated seven divisions of the Shina government army, he also admitted that this guy Koyama was the darling of luck and courage.

But now is not that time, in the face of the troops of the independent division, they did not fire a single shot, they retreated into the city, and your hill occupied an empty position, is it also worth showing off? He also sent the telegram directly to himself, what do you mean, the rules of the Imperial Army, he forgot all about it? Ryosuke Isoya even viciously thought of handing over this telegram to Katayama Kono, and immediately dispelled this idea, no matter what, this guy is still a good gun, and he can use it at a critical time.

After the Japanese army reorganized a little, it immediately began to storm Kaifeng City, with fierce artillery fire, collapsed a section of the city wall, the Japanese troops along this breakthrough, swarmed in, after giving the Japanese army effective casualties, according to the deployment, the defensive troops all withdrew into the city, the Japanese army occupied the west gate of Kaifeng, and the battle turned into street fighting.

Beginning on December 17, Kaifeng, a famous historical and cultural city, a pearl on the bank of the Yellow River, and the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, has never been calm, the artillery fire covers the sky and the sun, the gunfire roars in every corner of the city, the smoke of gunpowder covers the sky over this ancient city, the city groans in pain in the flames of war, and the Japanese army of more than 100,000 troops, from west to east, gradually advancing.

Su Jingfeng's troops, fighting extremely fiercely, the Japanese army was making slow progress, according to Isoya Ryosuke's idea, with superior forces, gradually compressed the defensive troops of the independent division, drove out of Kaifeng City, and gathered in the field to annihilate, the idea was good, but when it started, he found that his ideas were too naïve.

The troops of the independent division had built complete fortifications in the urban area, and the Japanese army had to pay a great price for every step forward, and repeatedly fought house by house, and the Chinese soldiers drilled out from everywhere, and in every building that could be used, they dug out shooting holes, and the Japanese army was completely under the blow of crossfire, and sometimes, occupied this block, and when the Japanese army drove over, they were shot from behind.

In addition to a large number of casualties, the troops were still wandering around the western part of the city, and he ordered the artillery, following the rhythm of the infantry charge, to cover every suspicious area with indiscriminate artillery fire, so that the casualties of Su Jingfeng's troops increased dramatically.

At 9 o'clock in the evening of the 18th, the Japanese army used countless shells to blow up most of Kaifeng City, and Su Jingfeng's troops were pressed to the southeast corner of the city, where the terrain was more complicated, and the night fell, which was more suitable for street fighting, and the Japanese army could no longer attack, and the battle line was temporarily stable in this area.

Su Jingfeng sat in the command headquarters, his eyes were bloodshot, his left arm was wrapped in a thick bandage, the blood had been soaked, he had not closed his eyes for two days and two nights, the major general was in a suit, with a lot of bullet marks, a pungent smell of gunsmoke, and a light machine gun on the table.

He took the guard battalion, rushed up, a fierce counterattack, forced the Japanese troops to break back, and then, he put the guard battalion at that breakthrough, this is the last force around him, the regiment left as a reserve, has long been used, the casualties of the troops are too great, the strength is obviously insufficient.

He rubbed his somewhat drowsy head, tried to make himself sober, and persevered for another three hours, and completed the task assigned by the division commander, fortunately, the Japanese army also stopped attacking, and there was no new order, which means that Yiqiē still remained unchanged according to the original plan, these three days were the longest three days that Su Jingfeng felt, and it seemed that he had been anxious and worried all his life, all concentrated in this short period of time.

(To be continued)