readx;? In the face of the strong attack of the Japanese 101st Division and a heavy artillery brigade, coupled with the assistance of Japanese aircraft, the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and fought hard for more than ten days, but they could not stop it, and the division commander Zhang Zhenhan retreated to the Jiqingmen city wall with more than 1,000 remnants. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After entering the city, the gendarmes in the city let the rest of the 41st Division continue to go up the city wall to block the Japanese army, and the division commander Zhang Zhenhan couldn't help but run to the city defense headquarters to see Wang Haitao. In the command headquarters, Wang Haitao looked at Zhang Zhenhan, who was covered in gunpowder smoke and dust, and Zhang Zhenhan said with a crying voice: "Commander Wang, there are only more than 1,000 people left in one of my divisions, and I have been fighting to the death with Little Japan for more than ten days, so let the brothers take a breath!"

Wang Haitao sighed and said: "Commander Zhang, I also know that the brothers of the 41st Division have done their best, but now there are really no troops in the city that can go up, and as soon as the Xishan Bridge is lost, the Japanese army will be able to reach the city of Nanjing, and you will watch the Japanese army attack the city? In this way, you let the brothers hold on a little longer, and I will replace you as long as I have soldiers in hand." ”

Zhang Zhenhan also knew the situation in the city, so he could only sigh and leave the city defense headquarters. After the 41st Division went to the city wall to set up defenses, the 101st Division of the Japanese Army did not directly attack here at Jiqingmen, perhaps the 9th Division was completely annihilated under Jiqingmen, which made the 101st Division feel palpitations. After capturing the Xishan Bridge position, the 101st Division turned to the rear of the Niushou Mountain position.

In fact, the 58th Division did not encounter a strong Japanese attack on the Niushou Mountain position, and the 101st Division only used a wing to contain the Niushou Mountain position. But when the 101st Division captured the Xishanqiao position and bypassed the rear of the Niushou Mountain position, Feng Shengfa, the commander of the 58th Division, panicked.

Feng Shengfa hurriedly sent a telegram to Wang Haitao requesting a retreat. Wang Haitao, who received the telegram, considered that it was meaningless to defend the position of Niushou Mountain any longer, and the city was too empty, so he also agreed to withdraw the 58th Division to the city and transfer to the two city walls of Jiqingmen and Shuiximen. As soon as the 58th Division withdrew, the 51st Division also lost Chunhua Town, and the rest of the division retreated to the Gaoqiaomen city wall and the Tennoji Heights outside the city under the command of division commander Wang Yaowu.

As soon as these two places were withdrawn, the Yuhuatai position changed from a depression to a protruding part, and the Japanese army could attack the Yuhuatai position from three directions, in this case, Wang Haitao ordered the 92nd Division to retreat, leaving one brigade to guard the Zhonghua Gate, the other brigade to guard the Yuhua Gate, and the artillery battalion to establish an artillery position within the Zhonghua Gate city wall.

After all the outer positions were lost, the city wall of Nanjing could only be used as the last position. After the Japanese army met under the city of Nanjing, the 3rd Division and the independent heavy artillery brigade attacked the Zhonghuamen city wall, the 101st Division attacked the Jiqingmen city wall and the Shuiximen city wall, the 22nd Division attacked the Gaoqiaomen city wall with one brigade, and the other brigade attacked the Yuhuamen and Kazimen city walls.

The Japanese army in the south attacked the city of Nanjing, but the Japanese army in the east and west were blocked under the Purple Mountain and Qixia Mountain. Purple Mountain here is the strongest defender, whether it is the 271st Brigade of the 90th Division or the three regiments of the Teaching Corps, they are enough to give the Japanese army a headache, although the Japanese 16th Division has been replenished, but only one division can not capture the position of the north peak of the Purple Mountain.

It's just that the Japanese planes are constantly bombing the North Peak position, and there are only more than 20 Gaoping dual-purpose twin-linked heavy machine guns on the North Peak position that can really be used as anti-aircraft weapons, although the weapons are very advanced, but they can't withstand the large number of Japanese planes, and after more than 10 days of fighting, dozens of planes have been brought down, but only five of the 20 Gaoping dual-purpose twin-heavy machine guns are intact. Without the cover of anti-aircraft weapons, heavy artillery did not dare to be used easily, otherwise once discovered by Japanese aircraft, these advanced heavy artillery would be destroyed in one fell swoop.

Wang Haitao, who learned of the situation, personally took the time to go to the Beifeng position, put the damaged Gaoping No. 2 twin heavy machine guns and 20 130 heavy guns into the storage ring, and then let the 271st Brigade withdraw and defend at the Zhongshan Gate city wall, while the two regiments of the teaching corps stationed in Damaofeng also withdrew to the city, leaving only the regiment of Tianbao City near the city gate outside the city to move.

The 271st Brigade withdrew, and the 48th Division guarding Qixia Mountain also received an order to retreat, and the 48th Division withdrew to the city of Yaohuamen to continue to block the Japanese army, and the 87th Division of the original Yaohuamen garrison returned to the periphery of Yanziji to defend the Yanziji position. Because the 48th Division blocked the Japanese army at Qixia Mountain for more than ten days, and the losses were not small, Wang Haitao specially transferred two squadrons of militia to help in the battle.

The defenders of Nanjing City used the city wall as a barrier and defended the city, and the Japanese army finally attacked outside Nanjing after a few months of attacking, both sides were adjusting their forces, resting, and preparing to make a final fight, and Nanjing City had a rare quiet. At this time, Wang Haitao's hands were in addition to the guard battalion, and finally there were two regiments of the teaching corps as reserves.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of gunfire in front of the swallow rock. The Japanese Yangtze River Fleet, anxious to cut off the passage of the Nanjing defenders across the river, once again launched an attack on the Yanziji artillery position, which was approached not only by warships, but also by 4,000 marines. The 4,000-strong marines were transported ashore by Japanese transport ships to the river, a few kilometers away from Yanziji, and their purpose was to capture the artillery positions at Yanziji.

As soon as the 4,000 marines approached Yanziji, they encountered the defensive position of the 87th Division. The 87th Division has been resting in the past few months, seeing the earth-shattering fighting on the periphery of Nanjing, but the 87th Division has always been here to rest and standby, and the division commander Wang Jingjiu was also a little unable to sit still, and just got the order to guard the city wall of Yaohuamen, which has not been fired and withdrawn, and the 87th Division is also the ace division of the Central Army.

At this time, the 4,000-strong marines bumped into the muzzle of the gun, which could be regarded as allowing Wang Jingjiu to seize the opportunity, perhaps because the combat effectiveness of the marines was worse, or perhaps because the officers and men of the 87th Division were holding their breath, Wang Jingjiu only sent one brigade of the 259th Brigade to retreat back in embarrassment.

The Japanese planes that came to support were attacked by two antiaircraft artillery battalions on the Yanziji position, and the unsuspecting Japanese planes lost more than a dozen at a time, and the Yangtze River Fleet could not take advantage of the artillery battle with the Yanziji heavy artillery position, so it could only retreat again. The heavy artillery position on Yanzi Rock is like a steel card, tightly blocking the Yangtze River waterway.

With the sound of guns and cannons here in Yanziji, the 18th Division of the Japanese Army outside Yaohua Gate, with the assistance of the heavy artillery wing, launched a fierce attack on the city wall of Yaohua Gate. The walls groaned to the sound of heavy artillery shells, and at some point they would fall down. The officers and men of the 48th Division and two militia brigades guarding the city wall made every effort to block the Japanese attack under artillery fire.

The Japanese attacked almost simultaneously outside several city gates, and gunfire rang out everywhere on the walls of Nanjing. After completing the task, the military police also prepared to go up to the city wall to block the Japanese army, but were stopped by Wang Haitao. The task given by Wang Haitao to Xiao Shan was to go to the Xiaguan Wharf to maintain order when the defenders retreated, and at the same time help the 36th Division to block the Japanese troops coming from the south.

Xiao Lingshan received an order to take four regiments of gendarmes straight to the Xiaguan Wharf. The casualties of the 41st Division were too heavy, and Wang Haitao had ordered it to cross the river to rest and recuperate, and now the pressure was greatest in the three places of Zhonghua Gate, Zhongshan Gate, and Yaohua Gate. There was an artillery battalion at Zhonghua Gate to help, and although the Japanese army had a heavy artillery brigade, they did not dare to shoot closely, and the accuracy was much worse, so the 92nd Division could still hold it.

The 16th Division of the Japanese Army here at Zhongshan Gate has nothing to do with the strong Zhongshan Gate, and with the containment of the defenders of Tianbao City, the 271st Brigade will not have much problem in a short time. It's just that here in Yaohuamen, the city wall collapsed under the bombardment of the Japanese heavy artillery, and the gap was blocked by the defenders' manpower, and for a time the commander of the 48th Division, Ma Dengying, told Wang Haitao again and again.

Wang Haitao immediately asked Gui Yongqing to transfer the heavy artillery brigade to a regiment, and the 36 German-made 150 heavy guns caused the Japanese army's heavy artillery wing and the 18th Division to suffer a big loss. For three days, under the strong attack of the Japanese army, none of the several gates of Nanjing City were lost.

On the morning of the fourth day, the 22nd Division of the Japanese Army sent a brigade of soldiers, under the guidance of the spies left behind in the city of Nanjing, to cross several hills and attack the city wall of Cangbo Gate with light equipment. Cangbomen is close to the Qinhuai River here, and it is by no means a good place to attack, and Wang Haitao did not pay much attention to it, so he only put a company of the teaching corps here to garrison.

For several days in a row, not a single Japanese soldier appeared here, and the officers and men of a company stationed here were also a little careless; when they discovered the appearance of the Japanese troops, how could an unprepared company be able to stop a wing of Japanese troops? The officers and men of this company fought desperately with the Japanese troops, and stopped the Japanese troops for two hours at the cost of all their sacrifices.

When Wang Haitao learned the news and sent troops to reinforce him, the Japanese army had already captured the city wall and entered the city. A regiment of the teaching corps, which had been reinforced, engaged in street fighting with the Japanese not far from the city gate. As soon as the commander of the 22nd Division of the Japanese Army, Tsuchihashi Ji, learned that the brigade attacking Cangbomen had succeeded, he strengthened the attack on Takahashimon and sent another brigade to support the direction of Cangbomen.

At this time, Wang Haitao knew that something bad was happening, and suddenly the news of the loss of Yaohuamen came, which was undoubtedly worse for Wang Haitao. Wang Haitao clearly knew that Nanjing City might not be able to hold it, but the Japanese troops here in Yaohuamen had to stop them at all costs, otherwise after they broke through in the direction of Xiaguan, it would be difficult to protect the retreat of tens of thousands of defenders in the city.

Wang Haitao immediately ordered the last regiment of the teaching corps to blast the important buildings in Nanjing, and after the blasting was completed, cover the headquarters of the teaching corps to cross the river, and the troops guarding the city gate retreated in the direction of Xiaguan in an orderly manner, in the order of Caochangmen defenders, Jiqingmen defenders, Yuhuamen defenders, Gaoqiaomen defenders, Zhonghua Gate defenders, Tianbao City defenders, Zhongshan Gate defenders, and Yanziji defenders.

Teach the corps to cover the retreat of the defenders in the street fighting fortifications, and gradually retreat in the direction of Xiaguan after dark. The 36th Division and the gendarmerie could only cross the river after all the defenders had crossed the river, and then blow up the pontoon bridge. After giving the order in one breath, Wang Haitao led the guard battalion and the armored regiment to the direction of Yaohuamen.