Wang Li rushed to the north gate with two battalions, the situation of the second regiment was already very passive, after the officers and men of the first battalion on the city wall withdrew, they could not get the support of the heavy machine gun fire points on the city wall, and the remaining officers and men of the third battalion could only rely on the remaining ten light and heavy machine guns on the position to suppress the Japanese attack. However, the Japanese attack of this attack was very orderly, not only did they use the ground to conceal very well, but their marksmanship when returning fire was also very accurate.

Coupled with the fact that the machine gun fire point was in danger of the grenadier canister, the third battalion paid a lot of casualties, and could only watch the Japanese approach step by step. Fortunately, the Japanese artillery bombardment finally stopped, and the regimental guard company came up in time to reinforce the Japanese army a hundred meters away. Just when the two sides were facing each other at a distance of 100 meters, the 460th Brigade and the 62nd Hui Brigade finally arrived at the riverside.

Tang Yu and Wei Bin chose a high ground, and at the same time raised their binoculars to look at the Japanese army not far away. On a large piece of flat land by the river, the Japanese army had built a semicircular fortification on the periphery, and although there was no strong fortress, there were still quite a few Japanese troops on the position. Tang Yu and Wei Bin didn't pay attention to these things, what they paid attention to was the large field artillery set up at the rear of the position.

Putting down the binoculars, Wei Bin said to Tang Yu: "The Japanese army has a lot of artillery, and this should be the size of a field artillery wing. In order to destroy the Japanese army, this field artillery position must first be knocked out, otherwise our tanks and infantry will suffer great losses. Tang Yu also nodded in agreement with Wei Bin's point of view, and said: "Then let the troops besiege first and not attack, and use the division's self-propelled howitzer and artillery regiments to deal with the Japanese artillery positions." ”

At this time, the distance between the two sides was still three or four kilometers away, and the Japanese troops, who had discovered the pursuers, actually started shelling first. Seeing the smoke rising from the Japanese position from a distance, Tang Yu and Wei Bin secretly shouted: "Not good!" The troops who had just stopped also discovered that the Japanese were firing artillery, and hurriedly scattered in all directions to avoid the shelling.

The self-propelled howitzer and artillery regiment walked at the back of the ranks, and the regiment commander Tang Weizhong was still waiting for the order to attack when he heard an explosion from the front. As soon as he heard the movement, Tang Weizhong knew that this was the Japanese army's field artillery firing. At this time, Tang Weizhong couldn't wait for the order to open the artillery, and ordered his subordinates to immediately calculate the azimuth coordinates of the Japanese artillery position, and let the whole regiment accelerate to press up.

By the time the self-propelled howitzer and artillery regiment had calculated the position of the Japanese artillery position and the whole regiment was ready for fire, the Japanese artillery bombardment had lasted for 10 minutes. Ten minutes is not a long time, that is, the self-propelled howitzer and artillery regiment is extremely mobile and the fighters are well-trained in order to complete the preparation, otherwise the time will be extended.

In these 10 minutes, the 1st Regiment of the 460th Brigade, which was under the heavy care of Japanese artillery, sacrificed nearly 100 soldiers, destroyed one light tank and two heavy armored vehicles, and damaged one light tank and one light armored vehicle. Under Tang Weizhong's continuous urging, fifty self-propelled grenades and artillery finally roared.

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo ordered the field artillery wing to open fire in advance, which was also a desperate gamble. Having had an experience, he didn't know that the Chinese army's artillery fire was ferocious and abnormal. A mountain artillery wing under his command was completely destroyed under the fire of the Chinese army, and it did not hold out for even half an hour, and today once the artillery of the Chinese army counterattacked, I am afraid that the field artillery wing will not be able to hold on for long.

But if there are eggs under the nest, it would be good if these people can escape alive, and he has no hope of bringing these cannons out. Because it is cheaper for the Chinese, it is better to play a role early, and it is good to delay for more time. Sure enough, not long after the artillery was fired, the cannon of the Chinese army's counterattack rang out.

Even though Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo had been mentally prepared for the artillery fire of the Chinese army's counterattack, he still felt extremely bad when he listened to the explosion of shells one after another and watched the nitric acid and flames rising from the artillery position. He said to Chief of Staff Yoshida Eijiro Osa, who was standing beside him with the same unbearable face: "We have suffered such a defeat here, we will all be sinners of the Empire!"

Yoshida Eijiro Osamoto wanted to comfort Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo, but he opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. In the depressing atmosphere, a voice came from the door of the fortification: "Report" came. Eijiro Yoshida breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head to see a signal soldier standing in the doorway. After letting the signal soldier in, the person who came stood up and said, "Report to the division commander and chief of staff, there are five imperial gunboats on the Gan River. ”

Without waiting for Yoshida Eijiro to speak, Vice Admiral Iide Tetsuzo turned around and asked, "Yours, do you see the gunboats?" The signal soldier nodded and replied, "Hey, my subordinates have seen five gunboats with their own eyes, and Lieutenant Yamaguchi ordered his subordinates to report to your Excellency." Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo said to Yoshida Eijiro Daisa, "Let's go, go to the riverside and have a look." After saying that, he took the lead and walked outside the fortifications.

As soon as he walked out of the fortifications, he heard the screech of shells flying overhead, and Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo glanced at the artillery position again, which was filled with gunsmoke, but from time to time the artillery fired a shell to counterattack. Judging by the current situation, the field artillery wing will not last long. Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo sighed, collected his mood, and walked briskly towards the riverside with Yoshida Eijiro Osa.

When the two of them approached the river, they had already seen two large, three, and five gunboats approaching on the river. When these five gunboats arrived, many officers and men on the leading positions turned their heads to watch. There was no wharf on the riverside, and the two large gunboats could only stop in the middle of the river after approaching, and the three small gunboats approached the river, and a rubber raft was laid down only more than 20 meters from the shore, and several soldiers rowed the raft to the shore.

A lieutenant officer jumped out of the raft and walked towards Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo under the guidance of an officer on the shore. The lieutenant officer came to Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo, stood up and saluted, and said, "Your Excellency, I am Lieutenant Yoshio Yamada, the commander of the gunboat Hira, of the Nanchang River Defense Brigade. Our department has been instructed to receive Your Excellency the Lieutenant General to Nanchang, and I would like to ask Your Excellency the Lieutenant General to arrange for your entourage to board the ship. ”

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo pondered for a moment and asked, "Lieutenant Yamada, how many soldiers can your five gunboats hold at most?" Lieutenant Yoshio Yamada thought for a moment and replied, "Your Excellency, the large gunboats in the center of the river can each accommodate three hundred people, while my small gunboat can only hold a maximum of one hundred people. Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo thought for a moment, and instead of answering Lieutenant Yoshio Yamada, he said to Yoshida Eijiro Daisa: "Order the engineer brigade to immediately repair the improvised dock by the river." Then order the front line, be sure to hold off the people of China for more than two hours. ”

Yoshida Eijiro Osaku took the order, and as soon as he left, Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi and the chief of staff and Yamada Takuro Osashi rushed over. Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo first said to Lieutenant Yoshio Yamada: "You go back first and get a few gunboats ready, and as soon as the improvised dock is built, immediately dock to pick up our troops to board the ship." Lieutenant Yoshio Yamada saluted and left, at which point Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo turned to Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi and said, "Takeuchi-kun, let's discuss the evacuation." ”

When Vice Admiral Shunjiro Takeuchi and Yamada Takuro heard that only 900 people could get on board, even if they were mentally prepared, they bowed their heads and remained silent with a heavy heart. Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo sighed and said to Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi: "The officers above the rank of the two divisions will be given priority on board, and my division will only bring my guards on board, and the rest will be arranged by Takeuchi-kun." ”

This hot potato was handed over to Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi at once, and of the more than 10,000 troops, only a few hundred people could get on the ship, and the rest would all be outcasts, and it was really a problem to get on the boat and who didn't. At this time, Yamada Takuro said to Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi: "Your Excellency the division commander, let your subordinates stay behind and be responsible for directing the troops to cover the two division commanders on board!"

Yamada Shunjiro's words surprised both Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi and Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo, and Lieutenant General Shunjiro Takeuchi lost his voice and said: "Yamada-kun, you ......" Yamada Zhuoer Daisa smiled bitterly: "Your Excellency the division commander, the troops must be commanded so that they will not break up, so that you can evacuate safely, and I will stay loyal to His Majesty the Emperor!" Yamada Zhuoer's words made the two division commanders speechless at the same time.

While the engineer brigade was making every effort to repair the improvised wharf along the river, the field artillery wing had been completely wiped out, and the target of the self-propelled grenade and artillery regiment had also turned to the Japanese position. When the self-propelled howitzer and artillery regiments bombarded the Japanese field artillery positions, the officers and men of the 460th and 462nd Brigades had already completed preparations for attacking the Japanese positions.

After the self-propelled grenade and artillery regiments turned the bombing targets to the Japanese positions, the four regiments, together with the armored units assisting in the attack, also began to slowly press up against the Japanese positions, and a few heavy tanks were still in the forefront. This was followed by light tanks and heavy armored vehicles. The two sides were still separated by a distance of two thousand meters, and the Chinese troops who could press on it had already put great pressure on the Japanese troops on the positions.

The Japanese troops at the front had received orders to hold out for more than two hours, and the soldiers had received news from the officers that in two hours, reinforcements would be able to arrive here, and they would be saved. Therefore, the morale of the Japanese army was also greatly boosted, and the light and heavy firepower on the position were ready to open fire, and even those mortars and Type 92 infantry guns were ready to attack the Chinese combat vehicles.

The four regiments advanced to a kilometer from the Japanese position, and the mortars began to build artillery positions, and at 500 meters, the heavy machine guns began to build heavy machine gun positions. At the 300-meter mark, mortars and heavy machine guns were firing at the same time, and even the advancing tanks were firing at the Japanese positions with vehicle-mounted artillery and vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns.

On the Japanese position, all the small artillery aimed at the advancing chariot and began to counterattack, and the shells fell on the chariot and around the chariot, and the smoke of gunpowder also exploded. The heavy and light tanks that could rush ahead ignored the explosions, rushed out of the smoke as if nothing had happened, and accelerated towards the Japanese position.