readx;? On the western defensive line, the Japanese army was never able to break through the defensive line set up by the defenders at the Bank of Communications, while the Japanese troops in the north, after approaching the outer defense line of the Sihang warehouse, with the support of artillery, intensified their offensive and tried to break through the position from several directions. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 However, in the face of dense firepower on the position, the Japanese army tried their best to make a breakthrough. Seeing that the Japanese artillery fire was very fierce, and the defensive line could be defended, Wang Haitao did not use a few heavy mortars on the roof.

For a whole day, except for a lot of skylights on the north wall, the Sixing warehouse did not suffer any losses, and the casualties of the soldiers were not serious. In the west, except for the street fortifications that were damaged by Japanese artillery fire, the soldiers also suffered no losses. If it continues like this, there will be no problem with this four-line warehouse for half a month.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the reconnaissance company, which had eaten and slept enough, plunged into the dark night under the leadership of Tang Xiaoshan, and Wang Haitao still did not assign any specific tasks to them, except for telling Tang Xiaoshan that they should be careful. For these soldiers brought out by himself, Wang Haitao is still more trusting and assured. Tang Xiaoshan, they will definitely not disappoint Wang Haitao.

At night, the enemy's occupied zone was lively again, and a burst of gunfire in the east had not yet subsided, and explosions in the west had resounded. Looking at the Japanese occupied areas that were lively from time to time, Wang Haitao laughed silently.

On 2 December, such fierce battles took place so close to the concession that caused serious uneasiness among the foreigners in the concession, who first made a one-sided request for a truce to the Nanking government, and then exerted pressure on the Japanese side to stop attacking the troops at the Sihang warehouse.

At this time, the defending troops on the south bank of Suzhou Creek had all been deployed to their positions, and the preparations were ready, and the defense of the Sixing warehouse had successfully caused the great powers to intervene. For Chiang Kai-shek, once the goal had been achieved, it would be meaningless for the Sixing Warehouse to hold on, so on the morning of December 3, Chiang Kai-shek personally issued an order to the defenders of the Sixing Warehouse to retreat.

After the order arrived at the headquarters of the Central Route Army, General Zhu Shaoliang immediately conveyed it to Wang Haitao by radio. After receiving the order, Wang Haitao called Xie Jinyuan and several other commanders to the command room, and conveyed to them the retreat order issued by General Zhu Shaoliang, commander-in-chief of the Central Route Army. Xie Jinyuan asked puzzledly: "Senior Commander Wang, judging from the current situation, we will not have a problem holding on for another ten days or even longer, why are we in such a hurry to retreat?"

Wang Haitao replied: "Commander Xie, now the Japanese army has no way to take us, because the Japanese army has some scruples and did not use large-caliber heavy artillery, and if we hold on, if the Japanese army uses aircraft and heavy artillery regardless of it, do you think these four warehouses can still be defended?" Xie Jinyuan said loudly: "The officers and men of our 524th Regiment are willing to die on the position. Master Wang, you better take your people and withdraw first. ”

Wang Haitao's heart was angry, and he asked in a deep voice: "Commander Xie, are I, Wang Haitao, and the brothers of the New Ninety Division greedy for life and afraid of death? Why do you want us to withdraw first? Will I take someone across the river if I am afraid of death?" Xie Jinyuan knew that his words were reckless. Afraid said: "Senior Commander Wang, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I'm just willing to stay here with the soldiers until the end." ”

Wang Haitao's face softened, and he said: "I, Wang Haitao, admire Commander Xie for having the courage to sacrifice his life for righteousness, but why should he all die in this dead land that has lost its defensive significance? If we want to fight the enemy as much as possible, we should not care about the gains and losses of one city and one place, and only by saving ourselves can we find a better place and have more opportunities to fight the enemy. After we evacuate here, on the south bank of Suzhou Creek, with the vantage point of Suzhou Creek, wouldn't we be able to better fight the Japanese army?"

Xie Jinyuan and the others listened to Wang Haitao's words, and couldn't help nodding their heads again and again, Xie Jinyuan said: "Senior Commander Wang, I was wrong, and Senior Commander Wang will make full arrangements below, and we will completely obey the order." Wang Haitao nodded and said: "It is definitely not possible to retreat during the day, we can only safely cross the Suzhou Creek at night, and my reconnaissance company will not be able to come back tomorrow morning, so that tomorrow afternoon all the soldiers will withdraw to the Sixing Warehouse Building, and tomorrow evening I will arrange an artillery bombardment of the Japanese army, and then we will withdraw to the south bank of Suzhou Creek tomorrow night." ”

In order not to affect the mood of the soldiers, the order to retreat will not be given for the time being, and will be issued after the soldiers have withdrawn tomorrow. How to keep it now or how to keep it. After the decision was made, Wang Haitao reported to General Zhu Shaoliang by telegram, and General Zhu Shaoliang also agreed to Wang Haitao's plan.

Outside the building, the Japanese artillery fire was still intensive, and the offensive did not weaken Sihao. The officers and men of the 524th Regiment and the officers and men of the guard battalion cooperated with each other to ensure that their positions were not lost; Wang Haitao went to the roof of the building and commanded several heavy machine guns on the roof of the building to suppress and strike at the attacking Japanese troops.

Lieutenant General Fujita Shin, the commander of the Third Division, was also very dissatisfied with the fact that the Japanese army had attacked for several days without finding anything, but seeing that the two flags on the roof of the Sixing Warehouse were still there, and considering the strong combat effectiveness of the new 90th Division of the Chinese Army, he no longer blamed his subordinates.

On the second day of December, the Japanese army, which had been attacking for a day, also found nothing, and the Japanese army, who had not been able to get a good rest at night, was also exhausted. In the early morning of 3 December, the soldiers of the reconnaissance company and Tang Xiaoshan returned to the Sixing Building again, this time two soldiers were slightly wounded. Wang Haitao called Tang Xiaoshan and told him that the whole army would evacuate the Sixing warehouse tonight. And asked their reconnaissance company to find out the warehouse in the afternoon and open the way for the smooth retreat of the troops.

Tang Xiaoshan happily accepted the order and went down to rest. On the third day, the Japanese army dispatched planes to bomb the Sixing warehouse, although there was anti-air fire on the roof of the building, but the Japanese army was obviously not so good at talking this time, and in the case of losing a plane, they still threw a bomb on the roof of the building, this bomb did not damage the building, but an anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof of the building, a heavy machine gun was blown up, and more than a dozen soldiers were killed and wounded, and even the commander of the machine gun company, Lei Company, was also wounded.

The Japanese army continued to attack the defenders' positions again and again, and the defenders returned fire in order. Both sides suffered casualties, but the defenders who had the advantage of the location suffered far fewer casualties. At noon, Wang Haitao issued an order to withdraw to the Sixing warehouse, and the soldiers on the defense line withdrew from their original positions in an orderly manner and returned to the Sixing warehouse building.

After the Japanese army carefully and resolutely occupied the original position of the defenders, they slowly surrounded the Sixing warehouse, and the soldiers of the guard company set up light and heavy machine guns from the window and the hole opened by the Japanese cannon, and suppressed the Japanese army a hundred meters away from the building. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the reconnaissance company's battlefield soil first came out of the building and touched in the direction of the Suzhou Creek.

Wang Haitao saw that it was getting late, and the Japanese army was organizing the last attack of the day, and began to use the radio to give the order to open fire on the heavy artillery regiment south of the Suzhou River, and clearly gave the coordinates and directions of the target. After a while, the south bank of Suzhou Creek began to light up with red light, followed by the rumbling sound of cannons. The shells flew across the Suzhou Creek and landed accurately in the ranks of the Japanese troops, which blew the Japanese army into a daze.

When the commander of the Japanese army used a walkie-talkie to report the sudden large-scale artillery bombardment by the Shina to the headquarters of the 3rd Division, the division commander Fujita Shindai was taken aback, because every time before the full-scale counteroffensive of the new 90th Division in China, a large number of artillery of the Shina would shell the Imperial Army. Could it be that the new 90th Division of China is going to repeat its old tactics and carry out a large-scale counteroffensive?

Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Fujita immediately ordered all the soldiers to scatter one after another, and then use the ground to build fortifications to prevent a full-scale counterattack by the Shina people. Fujita's order caused the Japanese to quickly retreat for several miles and quickly build up a defensive position. Wang Haitao and others in the Sixing warehouse saw that the Japanese army had all retreated, so they ordered the heavy artillery regiment to stop shelling, and then began to retreat to the Suzhou River.

The soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 524th Regiment carried the seriously wounded and took the lead in leaving the Sixing Warehouse. Wang Haitao took the guard company to use explosives and grenades to set up a lot of tricks in the Sixing warehouse, and after arranging everything, the guard company and Wang Haitao left the Sixing warehouse with all the materials they could take away.

When walking towards the river, the soldiers of the reconnaissance company came up to meet them, and they reached the river smoothly along the way, and twenty rubber boats were put down on the river, but the rubber boats were too small, and there were not many people crossing the river at one time. Seeing that the river was slow, Wang Haitao led the soldiers of the guard company to build a defensive line thirty meters from the river. In case the Japanese army understands and pursues them.

It took a full hour for all the soldiers of the 524th Regiment to cross the river, and at this time, the sound of a thunderous explosion in the Sixing Warehouse Building came, and Wang Haitao knew that the Japanese army had reacted wrong, so he sent troops to check in the Sixing Warehouse, and it seemed that there was not much time left for him to retreat. At this time, a signal came from the river that the river could be crossed, and Wang Haitao left a few observation posts and walked towards the river with the rest of the soldiers.