readx;? The 88th Division, which defended Longtan Town and Baohua Mountain, had only more than 4,000 men left after being withdrawn from the Shanghai battlefield, but when it was withdrawn to the outskirts of Nanjing to recuperate, several German divisions were given priority to replenish by Chiang Kai-shek, as if the 88th and 87th Divisions were originally Chiang Kai-shek's guard divisions. After the www.biquge.info was replenished, the 88th Division increased to 8,000 men, and the 87th Division also reached nearly 8,000 men.

Although there was not so much German-style equipment in terms of weapons and equipment, these two divisions were also given priority equipment as much as possible, and after several months of rest, these two divisions could be regarded as recovering most of their combat effectiveness. When the two divisions were placed under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing Urban Defense Command, Wang Haitao became the commander of the Nanjing Urban Defense and the top boss of the two divisions.

Sun Yuanliang, commander of the 88th Division, still had a good impression of Wang Haitao, and in Shanghai's Sixing Warehouse, Wang Haitao personally led the guard battalion to the Sixing Warehouse, and not only rescued his subordinate Xie Jinyuan and several hundred other officers and soldiers, but also gave the 88th Division a batch of new weapons to deal with small Japanese chariots.

The last time Wang Haitao came to inspect the Longtan position, he didn't put on a stand for himself, but was seriously studying with himself how to deal with the Japanese attack, which also made Sun Yuanliang have a better impression of Wang Haitao. Now, in accordance with the method discussed with Wang Haitao, Sun Yuanliang left the 262nd Brigade on the frontal position in Longtan Town, while the 264th Brigade set up a position on Baohua Mountain next to Longtan Town, and an artillery battalion of the whole division equipped with eight German-style 75-millimeter mountain guns was also placed on the main position on Baohua Mountain.

The 18th Division of the Japanese Army was eaten by the New 90th Division under the city of Songjiang in the Battle of Shanghai, and when the division commander Ushijima Sadao reorganized the logistics troops during the recuperation in Shanghai, there was an extra brigade of infantry, and the 18th Division at this time also had only one 35th Infantry Brigade and an infantry brigade directly under the division, plus the 12th Field Artillery Brigade and the 22nd Cavalry Brigade totaling more than 16,000 people.

The 35th Brigade of the 18th Division did not hesitate to attack the defenders' position before arriving at the position in Longtan Town, but when the 114th Wing of the 35th Brigade attacked, the artillery shells flying from Baohua Mountain directly caused the 114th Wing to lose the artillery squadron and an infantry squadron of the wing. After receiving the report, Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadao, the commander of the division, was very angry and commanded the heavy artillery wing behind him to bombard Baohua Mountain.

Dozens of 150 cannons blew up the Baohua Mountain, but the artillery battalion of the 88th Division did not suffer losses, because the artillery battalion had thought that the Japanese army would retaliate after the artillery bombardment of the Japanese army, so it quickly transferred the eight mountain guns to the bunker, no matter how fierce the Japanese artillery fire was, it was impossible to cover the entire Baohua Mountain, and the eight mountain guns were fine, but considering the ferocity of the Japanese artillery, the artillery battalion did not dare to use the eight mountain guns easily.

The position of Baohua Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it relies on each other with the position of Longtan Town, and the Japanese army has only one brigade and regiment of troops, so there is nothing to be done about the positions of Baohua Mountain and Longtan Town for the time being. Ushijima Sadao also counted on the warships on the Yangtze River to provide him with fire support, but the light cruisers on the Yangtze River were still clearing mines and clearing the channel on the water surface of the Zhenjiang River, and they would not be able to come here for a while.

In front of the Purple Mountain, after the Fifth Division transferred the heavy artillery wing, it launched an artillery bombardment on the position of the North Peak with heavy artillery, and the power of the 240 heavy howitzer was indeed good, and no matter how strong the position was, it could not withstand its repeated bombardment.

Wang Haitao wanted to inflict a heavy blow on the Japanese army along the way, and always wanted to make the Japanese army suffer a little first by virtue of the terrain, and then counterattack him after weakening the Japanese army's vital strength, but a telegram sent by Tang Xiaoshan of the reconnaissance regiment changed Wang Haitao's mind. Tang Xiaoshan telegraphed Wang Haitao to report that the 16th Division of the Japanese Army was still resting in Tangshan Town, and that only the Fifth Division, a heavy artillery wing, and a tank brigade were attacking the Purple Mountain position, and the two units were separated by 20 kilometers.

Wang Haitao looked at the map, and after passing through Qilin Town from Tangshan Town to Purple Mountain, it was all mountain roads, and if a force was used to cut off this road, then the Fifth Division would be surrounded on this section of the road under the Purple Mountain, and would it be possible to completely annihilate this Fifth Division again? This idea lingered in Wang Haitao's mind.

Wang Haitao called Gui Yongqing, Qiu Qingquan, and Wu Jian Zhou to the headquarters again, and when Wang Haitao told everyone about the situation, Gui Yongqing and Qiu Qingquan both looked at Wang Haitao in surprise. Gui Yongqing said: "Commander Wang, when the situation is favorable, it is not easy to defeat the Japanese Fifth Division, but it is too difficult to completely annihilate an entire division of the Japanese army. ”

Wang Haitao didn't know how difficult it was to completely annihilate the Fifth Division, which was the top of the Japanese army's combat effectiveness, but Wang Haitao still had cards to play, the first was the powerful artillery fire of the 90th Division, the 90th Division not only had 20 130 heavy cannons on the hilltop position, but also many mortars in its own division, and the dense artillery fire alone was enough for the Fifth Division to drink a pot.

There is also an armored regiment that is definitely a big killer, if the heavy artillery wing is destroyed when the Japanese army is not prepared, then the Japanese army's 75-caliber mountain artillery will not cause much damage to the heavy tank vehicles. Finally, the 90th Division has a large number of automatic weapons, and it will never suffer in close combat. With these advantages, it should be possible to give this plan a try.

After thinking about this, Wang Haitao said to everyone: "I have decided to counterattack the Japanese Fifth Division tomorrow night. Now I order, instruct the corps, you take over the two regiments of Tianbao City with one regiment, and let these two regiments go out to the side of the Damao Peak position of the Purple Mountain before three o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Gui Yongqing and Qiu Qingquan glanced at each other and replied, "Yes, humble and respectful." ”

Wang Haitao looked at Wu Jianzhou again and said, "Your armored regiment will make all preparations for an attack tomorrow morning, and wait for the order to attack." Wu Jian Zhou Lizheng replied: "Yes, military seat." Wang Haitao glanced at everyone and said, "Let's go and prepare." After everyone left, Wang Haitao said to the Tangshan Leopard beside him: "Mountain Leopard, telegraph to Tang Xiaoshan and ask the reconnaissance group to choose a place between the Tangshan and Purple Mountain positions to block the retreat of the Fifth Division." After sending the telegram, follow me to the Purple Mountain position. ”

The first thing Wang Haitao did when he came to the Purple Mountain position was to convene a meeting of officers of the 90th Division and above. Su Zuxin and Zhao Zhongwu, two people from the military department, also attended the meeting. After everyone arrived, Wang Haitao looked around the crowd and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am ready to launch a full-scale counteroffensive against the Japanese Fifth Division below the mountain tomorrow, what do you think about this?"

Except for Zhang Lingfu, all the people present were old people who had followed Wang Haitao from Guangxi, and even after Zhang Lingfu finished the battle in Shanghai, he was completely convinced of Wang Haitao, so as soon as Wang Haitao finished speaking, the people below were all excitedly discussed. After a while, Tang Renxin said: "Junza, during this time, we watched other troops fighting with Little Japan, and our hands were already itchy, a few days ago, we taught the corps to annihilate the Japanese Ninth Division under the city of Nanjing, and our soldiers couldn't sit still, and finally it was our turn to the 90th Division, and you can say what to do." ”

Wang Haitao saw that everyone agreed with Tang Renxin's words, and even Su Zuxin, who had always been calm, had a trace of excitement in his eyes, so he said: "Okay! In this way, Tang Longzai, transfer two regiments from your 272nd Brigade, and after Tang Xiaoshan of the reconnaissance regiment finds a good location, your two regiments must quickly enter the position, cut off the retreat of the Fifth Division, and block the rescue of the 16th Division." ”

Tang Longzai stood up and replied, "Yes, military seat." Wang Haitao also said: "These two regiments are very important, and they are the key to determining whether or not the Japanese Fifth Division can be successfully annihilated. We must be prepared to fight tough and evil battles. After finishing speaking, he turned his head to Tang Renxin and said: "Tang Renxin, before tomorrow evening, we must lock the coordinates of the Japanese heavy artillery wing, use the heavy artillery to first destroy the Japanese heavy artillery wing, and after determining that the heavy artillery wing of the Japanese army has been destroyed, carry out artillery bombardment on the important targets of the Japanese Fifth Division." Thirty minutes after your shelling, the front-line positions attacked the Japanese troops in front of the positions with mortars of various calibers. After the sortie of the armored regiment, the strength of one regiment was accompanied by the simultaneous attack of the armored regiment. ”

Tang Renxin replied, "Yes, military seat." After announcing the order, Wang Haitao observed the Japanese Fifth Division with a telescope on the main peak position before leaving. Early the next morning, Tang Xiaoshan's telegram was sent to Wang Haitao, reporting that Wang Haitao had found a suitable location. Wang Haitao called back and immediately contacted Brigade Commander Tang Longzai, making sure to arrive at the location before 3 p.m. and destroy the highway to be prepared.

After sending the telegram, Wang Haitao took the guard regiment and called Gui Yongqing to go to Zhongshan Gate together. At Zhongshan Gate, Wang Haitao saw that Wu Jianzhou and his armored regiment were preparing for an attack, so he said to Wu Jianzhou: "Jianzhou, your armored regiment should go out to the foot of Damao Mountain before three o'clock in the afternoon to join the two regiments of the teaching corps, and then hide and wait, and the guard regiment will follow your armored regiment to act." ”

After explaining some precautions to Wu Jianzhou, Wang Haitao took a guard squad to the Purple Mountain position again, he wanted to personally command the counterattack on the Fifth Division, while Gui Yongqing took the guards to Tianbao City. It was already noon when Wang Haitao arrived at the main position of Purple Mountain, and it was Tang Weimin's 543rd Regiment that was preparing to attack.

The 543rd Regiment left behind a heavy machine gun company and a heavy mortar company of the heavy fire battalion, and only brought a light mortar company, and the old rifles in the hands of the soldiers were replaced, half of them used submachine guns, half of them used semi-automatic rifles, and each soldier carried a large knife from Guangxi on his back.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Tang Longzai sent a telegram first, and he personally led the 546th Regiment and the 547th Regiment to the blocking point and began to repair the fortifications. Immediately after the Tangshan Leopard also sent a telegram, and the armored battalion and guard battalion had arrived at the designated position to join the second and fourth regiments of the teaching corps, waiting for the order to attack.