Chapter 57: The Last Attack (1)

In a few days, the entire squadron leader of the Snow Fox Brigade was gathered at the headquarters, and in just a few days, the entire brigade was very tired, and hundreds of thousands of troops passed through here, which was not as simple as simply protecting the road and maintaining traffic, and at the same time it was equivalent to reorganizing the troops.

If it weren't for Li Yannian, the lieutenant general, in command, and with the assistance of the troops of the Second Army, I am afraid that even if Xue Ru was exhausted, they would not be able to do anything. Sky planes bombed, ground agents disrupted, terrified soldiers confused. Many soldiers could have held their positions if they had not retreated, but this rout was immediately devoid of organizational discipline.

In order to concentrate the Central Army and guard the Xicheng defensive line, Xue Ru also had to withstand pressure from troops from other places. In particular, the 21st Group Army, which was an integrated Gui army, was resistant to the Central Army itself. Seeing that their troops retreated from the flank to the west of Suzhou, they were immediately dissatisfied. There was also the Sichuan army of Yang Sen of the Twentieth Army, who asked them to retreat from the railway line, which was furious at that time.

In the eyes of these officers, the Central Army is well treated, and it is safe to enter the city, and they can eat, drink and rest. They didn't even have a mouthful of hot water, so they just let them leave Kunshan, how could they not be angry?

The Snow Fox Brigade didn't have time to explain, and there were so many people who couldn't explain it, so they could only use tough measures. In this way, it is almost as tired as fighting.

As the troops were reduced, I just felt a little more relaxed, but then I received a report that the Japanese 6th Division attacked as fast as possible, and after occupying Qingpu, it moved directly forward and pointed to Kunshan. If Kunshan was lost, the Japanese army would cut off the Beijing-Shanghai railway, closing the way for the Chinese army to retreat to Nanjing.

Matsui Ishine was well aware that the General Staff Headquarters of the base camp had issued an order that in order to avoid the expansion of the war, the military operations carried out by the Japanese army were required to stop at the line of Kunshan, Jiading, Taicang, and Suzhou. To the west, do not exceed Nanxun and Jiaxing.

However, Matsui Shigen did not want to stop, and attacked Shanghai, and the imperial army paid a great price. The Chinese army had collapsed and begun to retreat in disorder, and it was the perfect time to pursue and occupy Nanjing to the north. The capture of Nanjing would force the Chinese government to surrender.

He did not dare to openly disobey the order, so he took vague orders to the divisions below, and did not give a dead order not to advance. Of course, the commanders of the divisions were thinking about the merits of the war, and they all accelerated their speed to attack west and north.

The 6th Division was transferred from the North China Front, and he did not taste the storming of Shanghai. Beginning in Beiping, from the Beijing-Tianjin region to Shandong, resistance was very limited.

Sometimes a squadron can catch up with a division of the Chinese army, so when the 6th Division landed at Jinshanwei, it was braver than the other troops, and it was like no one's land.

However, the Military Committee did not think that the devils could land in Hangzhou Bay, and a large number of troops were fighting in Shanghai, and the area south of Shanghai was empty. Zhang Fakui was prompted by Chen Cheng to pay attention to the direction of Hangzhou Bay, but the war in the direction of Shanghai was tight, and Zhang Fakui did not want to transfer troops.

When the report was received that the Japanese 10th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke, with the support of naval ships, landed at Kanayama Guard, it was too late to transfer troops to block it.

The 10th Army was overwhelmed along the way, and after establishing a concentration point at Yanduntou, the three divisions immediately divided their troops into three routes to attack the downtown area of Shanghai. The objective of the 6th Division was to attack the periphery of Shanghai, and after occupying Qingpu, attack Kunshan to the north, cut off the Beijing-Shanghai railway, and attack Suzhou, directly towards Nanjing.

When Tani's offensive began, it was the time when the military council ordered a retreat, so his troops were barely strongly resisted and directly occupied Qingpu.

Gu Shoufu held the division headquarters in Qingpu, ordered the 11th Brigade to attack in the direction of Dianshan Lake and Chenghu Lake, directly attacked Wujiang in a roundabout way, and ordered the 36th Brigade to attack Kunshan, intending to occupy two places in one fell swoop and attack and occupy Suzhou from two directions. Break through the Wufu defense line of the Chinese army.

The strong resistance of Shanghai, the heavy casualties of the Japanese army, and the heavy price paid, and the four additional troops to occupy Shanghai, Gu Shoufu did not understand.

Arrogant, he ordered the commander of the 36th Brigade, Major General Akemi Takada, to occupy Kunshan as soon as possible and block the fleeing Chinese army.

Major General Akemi Takada, who received the order, did not even prepare for logistical supplies, and immediately ordered the 23rd Wing Shidao Baoliang Daisa to attack Kunshan.

Gu Shoufu wanted to attack quickly, but the Japanese army attacked too quickly, and the logistics supply was not in place at all, and there was no food to eat. Akemi Takada also wanted to hurry, but the soldiers couldn't do it without eating.

Matsui Ishone, who had already entered Shanghai on the 12th, went so far as to order that all troops could collect grain on the spot.

This order was undoubtedly to tell the Japanese army that it was okay to loot. The various divisions of the attack immediately turned into devils, and everywhere there was bloody killing and firefighting. On the fertile plains surrounding Shanghai, the Chinese people were devastated.

In order to concentrate on solving the problem of food, the offensive speed of the 6th Division was limited, in fact, the low-ranking officers and soldiers of the Japanese army were no longer in a hurry to attack in order to make a fortune, and were robbing everywhere.

The 1st Brigade of the 23rd Wing attacked relatively quickly, and they went all the way to the north, reaching Xujiaqiao as quickly as possible. This is the third squadron of the Snow Fox Brigade, that is, Qiao Han's squadron.

The task of covering the withdrawal of large units has been basically completed, but there are still many stragglers and routs that have not yet been withdrawn, and there are no more formed units.

Qiao Han is directing the soldiers to install*, preparing to blow up the Xujia Bridge. Because he received a report that the Japanese army had occupied Qingpu and was attacking in the direction of Kunshan, the captain ordered the Xujia Bridge to be blown up, and the entire squadron withdrew to Kunshan for defense.

"Captain, look?" Guo Jingchuan, the leader of the first squad, pointed to the distance and said.

Qiao Han raised his binoculars and saw a group of Chinese troops retreating, with devils chasing behind. When he saw these army generals, Qiao Han was taken aback and found that there was a major general. Why hasn't such a high-ranking officer been withdrawn at this time? He was even chased by devils.

The fleeing army can have more than a hundred people, and the devils chasing behind have the appearance of a squadron. Qiao Han didn't care about this devil at all. immediately shouted: "Chen Dong, stick here and prepare to blow up the bridge, I'll clean up these devils." ”

Chen Dong didn't have a telescope, so he couldn't see clearly, but it was definitely not much, and said, "You are the squadron leader, look at me." Squad 123 assembles and follows me. ”

looked at Chen Dong, who led three teams to run across the bridge. Qiao Han shouted: "Fuck I'm the squadron leader, listen to me." ”

But Chen Dong didn't hear it, and the three squads of one hundred and fifty people rushed across the bridge and rushed towards the devils in the distance. The remaining fourth squad leader, Cai Chengmiao, laughed when he saw Qiao Han's appearance.

Qiao Han found that the entire Snow Fox Brigade was led by the captain and was not afraid of devils at all, and this kid didn't even know that he was the deputy captain. glared at Cai Chengmiao fiercely: "Hurry up, the devil has appeared." ”

"Yes" Cai Chengmiao stood upright, hurriedly put the * in place, and began to set traps around.

Chen Dong was indeed a little unconvinced Qiao Han, didn't he just rely on being the old man of the Snow Fox Brigade? What's the big deal, who's afraid of whom! Lead three squads to rush towards the devils.

Qiao Han only saw the major general in the telescope, but he definitely didn't expect that it was Xue Yue and them who were being chased by the devils.

The car was blown over by a plane, Xue Yue was injured and unconscious, and Wu Yizhi was also injured, and they were delayed in Qingmiao Village for more than a day. After Xue Yue sobered up, he went to Kunshan under the protection of the guard battalion.

The 6th Division attacked too quickly, the Nationalist troops just fled for their lives, and there was no resistance at all, and the Japanese attacked in scattered squadrons and squadrons, which could not only solve the food problem, but also make a fortune and grab things.

In an unknown village, Xue Yue commanded the guard battalion to defeat a squadron of devils and cover the escape of the people, but his identity was exposed. Although the devil didn't know that this was a dignified group army commander, he found out that he had the rank of lieutenant general, which was a great merit. Brigade Captain Aoo Miki immediately commanded his brigade to pursue closely.

A brigade of devils is not all. There were only three infantry squadrons, more than five hundred, but the guard battalion, which suffered considerable casualties, was only more than three hundred. Along the way, I stopped and stopped, and I had to go around in circles. For a few days in a row, Xue Yue took his subordinates and devils in circles.

But there are devils everywhere, and sometimes they have to enter villages and towns in order to solve the problem of eating. The devils were also robbing everywhere, and after a few encounters, there was less than a company of troops left in the guard battalion. It's not bad, get rid of the pursuit of devils, and gradually approach Xujiaqiao, and after Xujiaqiao, it is the boundary of Kunshan.

Xue Yue, who was very tired, rested in a small forest. Looking at the soldiers beside him, Wu Yizhi said, "Commander, you better change your clothes." ”

Xue Yue is known as the tiger boy, and he has been very annoyed by running for his life along the way, if it weren't for the persuasion of the battalion commanders Huo Da and Wu Yizhi, he would have planned to fight with the devil. At this time, let him change into the clothes of the people and flee for his life, Xue Yue felt that it was better to kill him. Shaking his head and saying: "Don't say it again, let's take a rest, cross the Xujia Bridge, and enter Kunshan, Xue Ru is still in Kunshan." ”

Wu Yizhi said worriedly: "It's been a few days since we left Qingpu, and the whole road is full of routs, and Xue Ru may not be able to restrain them." There are already devils here, and they may have withdrawn. ”

Xue Yue was also not sure that in such a chaotic situation, there were all kinds of officers in the retreating troops. Who can she manage as a small captain? Since there is no way to stop it, it is possible to retreat to the rear.

Xue Yue was very strange, was Xue Ru prescient, or did she really have such a high strategic mind? The devil's actions were all said by her, and the battle situation was also the result.

Let herself agree that she will send the wounded back to Nanjing in advance, is it also known in advance? He said with some doubts: "Maybe they have withdrawn to Changshu or Suzhou and held the Xicheng defense line." ”

Wu Yizhi said helplessly: "Commander, it's not that I am discouraged, seeing the map that Xue Ru marked back, I don't think there is any hope, and the best result is to hold on for a few days." ”

Xue Yue still held out hope and said: "I have ordered the troops to enter, although the fortifications are simple, as long as they are repaired, they can still stop the devils for a while." ”

Wu Yizhi said: "Let's not talk about whether the order will be carried out, I think it is difficult for the order to convey to the troops, the main thing is the military spirit, and the military spirit is completely absent!" ”

Xue Yue is also sad, the army has no fighting spirit, this is the main thing, if you can hold on, concentrate the troops on the Xicheng line defense, after all, the number of Chinese troops is higher than the Japanese army. In this pursuit, their forces will inevitably be scattered, and their heavy weapons will not be able to keep up, but there is still hope for victory.

However, due to the late retreat order, the lack of unified deployment, and the disintegration of the troops, this is the main reason. He groaned and said: "Rest for a while, get to Kunshan as soon as possible, if the Japanese army occupies Kunshan, we will go to Suzhou, I don't believe that the Japanese army can occupy Suzhou so quickly." ”

Wu Yizhi said: "I think it's better to wait until the evening, it's too dangerous during the day." ”

Xue Yue shook his head: "No, we haven't eaten for almost two days, and if we delay it any longer, if we encounter the Japanese army, we can only be captured." Besides, it is easy to get lost if you are not familiar with the road at night, be careful, pay attention to the hidden advance, this is not far from Xujiaqiao. ”

Wu Yizhi couldn't help it, the commander was reasonable. He was just worried about whether Xue Ru was still in Kunshan, and if the bridge was blown up, it would be dangerous. Assemble the guard battalion and leave the woods and walk in the direction of Xujiaqiao. Try to avoid the village as much as you can, and if you can, you don't take the road and pass through the wilderness.

Because of being careful, there was really nothing wrong, and everyone was very happy to see the Xujiaqiao in the distance. Just as he was about to speed up, there was a gunshot in the distance, and the soldiers and devils who were on guard and searching in front met him.

Coincidentally, this is the top soldier of the 23rd Brigade of the 2nd Wing of the Japanese Army, and they are trying to attack Xujiaqiao. The commander of the 23rd Wing, Shidao Baoliang Dazuo, sent the 2nd Brigade to attack Xujiaqiao, preparing to attack Kunshan after occupying the bridge.

The Japanese detachment found Xue Yue, who was close to the highway and also approached Xujiaqiao, and the battle broke out. Xue Yue couldn't change direction anymore, so he wouldn't have a chance: "Order, rush to Xujiaqiao." ”

The guard battalion protected Xue Yue and Wu Yizhi and retreated while fighting, and ran towards Xujiaqiao. In this way, they were discovered by Qiao Han, who was sticking to the bridge.