readx;? This squad leader led a squad of soldiers, in order to delay the pursuing Japanese troops, constantly selected a variety of favorable types along the road, harassing the Japanese army, this squadron of Japanese troops also slowed down the pace of pursuit because of the continuous attack, when the squad leader returned to the blocking position outside Changzhou, the whole squad sacrificed three soldiers. However www.biquge.info the sacrifice of these three soldiers in exchange for the successful retreat of a battalion of officers and men.

Regiment Commander Huang Junmin had already learned of the approach of the Japanese vanguard, and the officers and men on the position were ready to engage the enemy at this time. The 16th and 18th Divisions of the Japanese Army captured the front-line positions in Wuxi, and the 101st Division, after capturing the Jiangyin fortress, launched attacks on Taixing, Jingjiang, Yancheng and other places from Jiangbei in cooperation with the marines.

At this time, it was the vanguard of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army that pursued the ** rout. The commander of the 16th Division, Lieutenant General Nakajima Imasago made meritorious contributions, and after handing over the task of sweeping Wuxi City and the surrounding areas to the 18th Division, he led the 16th Division to continue to attack and advance in the direction of Changzhou. As the vanguard, it was the 9th Wing of the 19th Infantry Brigade that was the first to attack the city of Wuxi.

When the Wing Commander of the Ninth Wing, Katagiri Goro Osa, and the Ninth Wing also rushed to the outside of Changzhou, the vanguard of a squadron was being beaten back by the defenders. The squadron leader came to Katagiri and reported to Katagiri that the Shina army had built a large number of fortifications outside the city of Changzhou and used these fortifications to block the advance of the imperial army.

Katagiri Goro Osa stood on a high place, and after observing the defenders' positions with binoculars for a while, he ordered the rapid-fire artillery squadron in the wing to be brought up, and at the same time ordered the mountain artillery squadron of the wing to establish an artillery position and prepare to attack the defenders' positions, the mountain artillery squadron had eight 75 mountain guns, and the rapid-fire artillery squadron had 10 rapid-fire guns of 37 caliber. The 75 mountain artillery positions were behind the troops, but the rapid-fire guns were moved to 600 meters in front of the position.

It is the usual means of the Japanese army to use the characteristics of rapid fire and powerful firepower to destroy all kinds of fortifications and firepower points on the defenders' positions, and this method often has a good effect on the poor quality fortress fortifications. And the distance of six hundred meters, combined with the shield on the rapid-fire gun, also guaranteed the safety of the artillery.

Although the fortifications on the frontal position outside Changzhou were not built in a hurry like the fortifications on the north bank of the canal, the 156th Division was stationed in Changzhou only to meet the ** troops withdrawn from the Wuxi defense line, and did not plan to hold it for a long time, so the fortifications on the defensive position were also built in a so-so way, and the Japanese artillery fire showed its power.

For example, this kind of rapid-fire cannon of 37 caliber is very light, two to three Japanese soldiers can move, and can shoot eight shells per minute. After the artillery was in position, Katagiri Goro Osa ordered the mountain artillery to first shell the defenders' positions, and after ten minutes of shelling, the artillery fire was extended, and then a brigade of infantry attacked.

Eight mountain guns were a little less numerous, and the ten-minute shelling did not inflict few casualties on the defenders hidden in the fortifications and trenches. When the Japanese infantry attacked under the cover of light and heavy machine guns and mortars, light and heavy machine guns in the fortifications of the positions and rifles in the hands of the soldiers in the trenches began to fire at the Japanese troops.

Seeing that all the firing points on the defenders' positions were fired, Katagiri Goro let the rapid-fire gun squadron open fire. Ten rapid-fire guns of the rapid-fire artillery squadron aimed at various firing points on the positions of the defenders, in particular, several heavy machine-gun fortresses began to fire. The rapid-fire guns with armor-piercing shells were able to penetrate and destroy a heavy machine-gun fortress with only a few shells, and in less than ten minutes, several heavy machine-gun fortresses on the position were all destroyed, and several heavy machine-gun fortresses were also muted.

The defense of the position completely relied on a few heavy machine guns as a fulcrum, and the heavy machine guns were dumb fire, and only a few light machine guns that were almost suppressed and rifles in the hands of the fighters could not stop the attack of more than 1,000 Japanese troops in a well-trained brigade, so after the heavy machine guns were dumb fired, the defenders of a battalion on the position continued to block for more than ten minutes, and they could no longer hold on, and the battalion commander saw that the Japanese troops were only 50 meters away from the position, and ordered to throw grenades at the Japanese troops, and then retreated to the rear.

When the 1st Battalion withdrew to the second line of defense, there were less than 200 men, including the lightly wounded. Regiment commander Huang Junmin came to the second line of defense angrily, and when he saw the commander of the first battalion who was slightly injured, he scolded: "You bastard, you retreated without an order, and easily gave up the first line of defense. ”

The commander of the first battalion said with a sad face: "Tuanzao, the firepower of the little Japanese is too fierce, and several heavy machine guns in the battalion have been lost. Huang Junming scolded again: "You bastard, don't you know that the division has ordered you to defend for 72 hours? It will be early tomorrow night, and you will lose the first line of defense for the first time the little Japanese charge, how can you let me hold it until tomorrow night? Retreat without permission, abandon the position, you will not escape the death penalty, for the sake of our many years of working together, you can explain anything to me." ”

The commander of the first battalion lowered his head and said for a while: "I ordered a retreat privately for the sake of my brothers, and it is not a pity to die, but I beg you to take the regimental seat, and tell the old father and mother in my family that I died on the battlefield, okay?" Huang Junmin said with hot eyes: "As long as I, Huang Junmin, am still alive, your family is my family, and I will send the second old man to the end, you can go with confidence." ”

The commander of the first battalion knelt down and kowtowed to Huang Junmin three times and said, "Thank you for the regiment, take care of the regiment, and go to your post." Huang Junmin turned his head and waved his hand, and his guards escorted a battalion commander into the distance, and after a while, a gunshot rang out. Huang Junmin looked at the officers and soldiers around him and shouted: "Listen, everyone, Shangfeng has an order for us to hold Changzhou for 72 hours, that is to say, we will hold on here until tomorrow night, I, Huang Junmin, swear to live and die with the position, before tomorrow night, if little Japan wants to pass through this position, the only way to step over my Huang Junmin's corpse! I want you to fight with little Japan here like me." Can you do it?"

The people around shouted in unison: "Fight with Little Japan!" Huang Junmin shouted loudly: "Okay! If anyone dares to flee from the battle again, the military law is ruthless!" Once the soldiers burst out with desperate determination and courage, it would be a terrible thing, and for the rest of the day, the Chinese defenders on the second line of defense burst out with incomparable tenacity.

The Japanese still used powerful artillery fire to bombard the defenders' positions, and then the infantry attacked under the cover of various weapons. Braving artillery fire and bullets, the defenders stubbornly repelled the Japanese attacks again and again. Several times the Japanese army attacked the front of the position, and the defenders only repelled the Japanese army with grenades and even white-knuckle combat.

The tenacity of the defenders made the Japanese Katagiri Goro Osa frown, and in the face of the defenders who seemed to have changed troops, Katagiri Goro Osa tried all his methods and failed to capture the second line of defense. Until the arrival of the 16th Division in the evening, the 9th Wing was still stopped in front of the second line of defense.

The 935th Regiment paid a heavy price in stopping the advance of the Japanese army, and by evening, there were only more than 400 officers and men left in the regiment of more than 1,000 officers and men, including half of the lightly wounded. The Japanese soldiers also left hundreds of corpses in front of the position, and the ground was also stained red by the blood of soldiers on both sides. After the ceasefire between the two sides in the evening, the brigade commander of the 468th Brigade replaced the 935th Regiment with the 936th Regiment, which suffered too many casualties.

The 16th Division of the Japanese Army did not attack at night, and the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Nakajima Imasago carefully inquired about the situation of Katagiri Goro during the day, and began to arrange the next day's attack, while the 936th Regiment of the 468th Brigade also began to repair the fortifications after taking over the position. Both sides are in full swing preparing for tomorrow's battle.

Li Jiang, the commander of the 156th Division, asked Commander Deng Longguang overnight for instructions on whether the 156th Division could withdraw from Changzhou after all the troops had withdrawn from the Xicheng defensive line. Because Deng Longguang's 83rd Army had been placed under the command of the Nanjing Urban Defense Command, Deng Longguang's telegram requesting instructions was sent directly to Wang Haitao's desk.

In the past few days, the telegrams sent by the reconnaissance regiment were all about where the Japanese army had attacked again and where it was moving. The city of Wuhu on the right has been broken, and while the defenders are engaged in street fighting, the main force has crossed the Yangtze River and retreated in the direction of Hefei and Anqing, and soon the 112th Division of Ma'anshan will meet the attack of the Japanese army. The 91st Division of Liyang in the middle of the road had already exchanged fire with the 22nd Division of the Japanese Army on the outskirts of Liyang, and now it seems that Changzhou City, which was defended by only one division of the 156th Division, which did not have much preparation, could not hold out for long at all.

Considering the form of the entire battlefield, Wang Haitao sent a telegram back to Commander Deng Longguang of the 83rd Army, agreeing that the 156th Division would withdraw from Changzhou City tomorrow evening, and that the whole army would retreat to Xiashu Town, the rear of Zhenjiang City, to rest and wait for duty. After receiving the callback, Commander Deng Longguang immediately sent a telegram to the 156th Division in Changzhou, ordering them to hold out until 8 o'clock tomorrow night, and then withdraw from Changzhou City and move in the direction of Zhenjiang.

Early the next morning, the 16th Division of the Japanese Army launched a 20-minute artillery bombardment of the defenders outside Changzhou with all the 48 guns of the division's field artillery wing, and then the infantry of the 19th Brigade launched a tidal attack on the position. After the 936th Regiment on the position desperately repelled the second charge of the Japanese army, it had to withdraw from its position due to too many casualties, and retreated to Changzhou City while blocking the attack.

The 3rd Division on the south bank of the canal also broke through the defenders' defense line on the north bank of the canal with casualties, and the 466th Brigade defending the direction of Wujin also had to retreat to Changzhou City. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the 156th Division retreated into Changzhou City, and the 16th and 3rd Divisions of the Japanese Army also converged under the city of Changzhou.

In the afternoon, the 16th and 3rd Divisions of the Japanese Army launched an attack on the east gate and the south gate of Changzhou City respectively, and the officers and men of the 156th Division relied on the wide city wall of Changzhou City to resist the Japanese army.