readx;? After listening to Wang Haitao's words, Gui Yongqing replied: "Commander Wang, we teach the corps to be soldiers who are also soldiers, raising troops for a thousand days, and using them for a while, and now our country is being invaded by small Japan, and this is the time when our generation of soldiers sacrifice their lives to serve the country, so how can there be any reason not to go to the battlefield? When Commander Wang needs to use me to teach the corps, I will teach all the troops to act with respect. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Wang Haitao nodded, and explained some things about building pontoon bridges and training the militia before letting them leave. With the approach of the Japanese army, the atmosphere in Nanjing City also became tense, and in addition to the deliberate fanning of some people and Japanese spies who fled to Nanjing from Wuxi, Zhenjiang and other places, the people in Nanjing City also became a little flustered.

In addition, most of the factories and shops were closed, so a large number of people flocked to the Xiaguan wharf every day, and several small steamers on the wharf kept coming and going on the Yangtze River, transporting boats of people across the river, and the engineering team sent by the logistics department of the 90th Army was also using wooden boats to build pontoon bridges on the river next to the wharf.

This kind of simple pontoon bridge is okay to walk and walk some light vehicles, but heavy equipment is not passable, Wang Haitao because he has a storage ring as a sharp weapon, so he is not too worried about how to cross the river with his heavy weapons. The battle ahead became more intense, and the Japanese army attacked more than once at Dasheng Pass, and the 302nd Regiment of the 51st Division, under the command of the regiment commander Chen Zhi, relied on the favorable ground type and permanent defense fortifications to block the Japanese army with all its might.

It's just that the quality of these so-called permanent defense fortifications is really poor, not to mention the heavy artillery of the Japanese army, even if the 75-caliber field artillery and the 105-caliber howitzer fire a few more shots, the fortifications can be destroyed. The 302nd Regiment could only hold back the Japanese troops in the dilapidated fortifications and the rocky ditches of the original terrain.

The defense of Liyang also came to the last moment, most of the 22nd and 3rd divisions of the Japanese army, with the superiority of troops, attacked Liyang City day and night, and the positions outside Liyang City had been captured by the Japanese army, and now they were fighting with the Japanese army with the reinforced city wall. Guo Rudong sent all the troops he could send to the city wall, and the Japanese army also suffered heavy casualties in front of the dense firepower of the defenders.

After the reconnaissance group reported to Wang Haitao the information that the 172nd Brigade of the 58th Division had exchanged fire with the Japanese army in Danyang Town, Wang Haitao understood that it was meaningless to defend Liyang City any longer, so he ordered Guo Rudong, commander of the 91st Division, that the 91st Division should withdraw from Liyang City and Jurong County and withdraw to Nanjing to rest and wait for action. After the 91st Division retreated, the 172nd Brigade also abandoned Dantu Town and returned to the Niushou Mountain position, so that the first outer defense line of Nanjing City was lost.

The 16th Division and the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, which occupied Zhenjiang, finally waited for the 5th Division and the Tank Wing, plus the heavy artillery brigade, and the Japanese army along the Zhenjiang Road became the largest heavy army group, and after discussion, it was decided that the 16th Division, the 5th Division, the Tank Wing, and the 240 Heavy Howitzer Wing would attack and advance in the direction of Jurong and Tangshan, and the target would be Zhongshanmen in Nanjing. The 18th Division and the 150th Cannon Wing attacked and advanced to Longtan and Qixia Towns, with the goal of cutting off the retreat of the defenders of Nanjing along the Yangtze River, which could be supported by warships on the Yangtze River.

As soon as the 91st Division withdrew to Nanjing City to rest for two days, Wang Haitao received a telegram from General Hu Zongnan, commander of the First Army in Jiangbei, in which Hu Zongnan informed Wang Haitao that the 11th Division of the Japanese Army and the Shigeto Detachment were attacking Yangzhou City, and that the defenders of Yangzhou City were already in a state of being overwhelmed, and that the First Army was now ordered to retreat north, and Wang Haitao was asked to quickly send troops to take over the positions of Pukou and Liuhe to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to advance westward after occupying Yangzhou, so as to occupy Jiangbei and cut off the road for the Nanjing defenders to withdraw northward.

This telegram really made Wang Haitao very angry, and it was basically because Hu Zongnan wanted to escape in order to preserve his strength and fear the enemy like a tiger, but he found an excuse to be ordered to retreat north. Liuhe is a key place in the north of the Yangtze River, and the retreat of more than 100,000 troops in Nanjing's city defense is all counting on Liuhe not to be lost. Otherwise, these hundreds of thousands of troops would have collapsed as in history, with all the dead and wounded.

Now Wang Haitao has in addition to teaching the corps, that is, the 91st Division, which has just been withdrawn, still has combat effectiveness, and the teaching corps is preparing for street fighting in Nanjing, so it seems that the 91st Division can only be sent again, but the 91st Division lost nearly 1,000 officers and men in the battle of Liyang, and it was a little reluctant to defend Liuhe with only more than 8,000 people, so he simply sent the first militia brigade to the 91st Division to fully take over the Jiangbei position.

Thinking of this, Wang Haitao found Guo Rudong, the commander of the 91st Division, and Liu Yuqing, the deputy commander of the division. After the two came to the headquarters, Wang Haitao first showed the two the telegram sent by Hu Zongnan. After the two of them finished reading, Guo Rudong asked: "Does the military seat mean that we want the 91st Division to take over the position of the First Army?"

Wang Haitao nodded and said: "The Jiangbei position is related to the retreat of more than 100,000 people of our Nanjing garrison, and there is no room for failure, as if it is Liuhe County, the 11th Division of the Japanese Army and the Shigeto Detachment together will have more than 20,000 people, you must block them to the east of Liuhe County to ensure the retreat of our Nanjing City Guards." ”

Guo Rudong and Liu Yuqing couldn't help but feel embarrassed after hearing this, and Guo Rudong said after a long time: "Military seat, there are no people in my 91st Division who are greedy for life and afraid of death, but with our division of 8,000 people to guard such a large place, and then face more than 20,000 Japanese troops, I am afraid that if there is a loss, it will affect the overall situation." ”

Wang Haitao replied: "Commander Guo, don't worry, I will hand over the 10,000 people of the first militia brigade that have been trained for a month to you to command, and there will be troops to support in the later stage, but this militia first brigade has just been trained for more than a month, and it is basically all recruits. ”

When Guo Rudong and Liu Yuqing heard that there was still a militia brigade of 10,000 people under their command, that although they were new recruits, they had been trained for more than a month, that they had combat effectiveness, and that they could be used if they had commanded properly.

The next step was to arrange for the entire 91st Division to cross the river, plus the 10,000 people of the 1st Militia Brigade to Jiangbei together. In order to increase the garrison capability of the 91st Division, Wang Haitao ordered the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade to immediately withdraw to Nanjing. When the heavy artillery brigade dragged more than a dozen 150 cannons back to the city, Wang Haitao handed over these heavy artillery pieces and all the shells to the teaching team, which made Gui Yongqing excited again.

All the officers and men of the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade were personally sent across the Yangtze River by Wang Haitao, and after Wang Haitao chose a place in Jiangbei and put the guard regiment on guard, he took out half of the heavy artillery from the storage ring, including 12 Type 66 152 caliber howitzers, 12 caliber howitzers, 20 cannons, and a total of 10,000 shells of various kinds.

When Wang Haitao asked the officers and men of the heavy artillery brigade to receive these new artillery, these officers and men were completely stunned by these brand-new heavy artillery, and when they heard Wang Haitao explain the data of the heavy artillery, their faces could not hide their excitement. It is like 20 cannons, not only has an effective range of 27,000 kilometers, but also has a self-propelled device, which can quickly move positions as long as three people operate it, which is really amazing performance.

Wang Haitao's task for the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade is to master and master the performance and use of these new artillery pieces as soon as possible, to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, and then to select suitable artillery positions, so as to provide the greatest firepower support to the Liuhe defenders. Wei Zhiyuan, the brigade commander of the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade, assured Wang Haitao with confidence: "Military seat, you can rest assured, with these new heavy artillery, I promise that little Japan will not be able to rush to our position." ”

Wang Haitao replied: "In terms of artillery fire, I believe that these heavy artillery are enough to suppress the Japanese artillery fire, but you must do a good job of air defense, I have no extra air defense weapons for you, only rely on your own camouflage and the machine guns of the guard troops for air defense, in this way, I will give you another batch of heavy machine guns, so that you can also strengthen your air firepower." ”

Because all the soldiers were here, Wang Haitao couldn't take anything from the storage ring in front of everyone, so he ordered the guard regiment to draw out twenty Type 67 heavy machine guns and bullets and hand them over to the independent heavy artillery brigade. Of course, after going back, Wang Haitao will give the heavy machine gun to the guard regiment to make up for it. The independent heavy artillery brigade originally had a guard battalion, and the equipment that General Gu Zhutong equipped this guard battalion with was not bad, but whether it was a Makqin heavy machine gun or a Czech light machine gun, the anti-air firing ability was much worse, and now there are 20 new heavy machine guns that can better shoot at the air, plus there are special anti-air sights on the heavy machine guns, and the heavy artillery brigade is even more confident.

Wang Haitao left a platoon of guards to teach the battalion of the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade the use of heavy machine guns, and then returned to Nanjing with the rest of the men. At this time, the 91st Division also took over the positions of the First Army and began to strengthen and build. With his own people like the 91st Division and a brand-new heavy artillery brigade to defend Jiangbei, Wang Haitao put his mind at ease and paid full attention to the battle on the periphery of Nanjing.

After the Japanese army occupied Liyang County, they advanced all the way to the west, and successively occupied Dantu Town and Lukou Town, and the vanguard troops were only 30 kilometers away from the Fangshan position of Jiangning Fortress, and the 22nd Division of the Japanese Army lost half of its men and horses in the previous attack, so the main force of the attack was replaced by the Third Division.

In addition to the original permanent garrison, the Jiangning Fortress was guarded by the 159th Division of the 66th Army sent by Wang Haitao. Jiangning Fortress is actually the general name of several hills around the periphery of Nanjing City and several forts and fortresses outside the city, there are also fort positions in Fangshan outside Jiangning Town, Fangshan is only a mountain with an elevation of 148 meters, the whole mountain area is more than 10 square kilometers, and there are four German-style 150 caliber K16 heavy guns and eight 20 mm caliber anti-aircraft guns in the fort. This was still one of the few heavy artillery pieces that Chiang Kai-shek imported from Germany after the German advisory group arrived in China. The permanent unit was an artillery battalion and two anti-aircraft artillery batteries.