Lieutenant General Nakagawa Hiroshi, commander of the 48th Division of the Japanese Army, scolded several of his wing commanders the night before, and gave a death order to go all out to capture the Mingjiang Bridge today. Therefore, from early in the morning today, the Japanese attack can be described as crazy. First of all, the concentrated large and small caliber artillery desperately smashed the shells to the position south of the Mingjiang Bridge, while the Japanese soldiers risked being injured by mistake and almost stepped on the landing point of the shells to stop and rush up.

Secondly, the Japanese army invested an infantry brigade in one attack, and under the suppression of the battle team, it did not retreat with heavy casualties. The bridge deck was already covered with the corpses of Japanese soldiers, and the soldiers who were still attacking, under the command of the officers, piled up bunkers with the corpses of their comrades and fired at the defenders of the position. In addition, the Japanese army divided into two brigades and forcibly crossed the bridge with rubber boats and rafts not far from the left and right of the Mingguang Bridge.

The possibility of success of this part of the soldiers who forced the crossing was very small, but it also restrained the strength of the 873rd Regiment, so that the 873rd Regiment could not support the 872nd Regiment on the side of the Mingjiang Bridge. In this case, the 872nd Regiment was struggling. In particular, the sturdy fortifications were damaged a lot by heavy aviation during the bombing by Japanese planes yesterday afternoon, and today in the face of the Japanese army's frantic artillery fire and desperate attacks, not only did the casualties increase a lot, but there was also the danger of losing the ground.

Chen Dian, the commander of the 872nd Regiment, also lost his calmness yesterday, and the whole regiment went to the position, not to mention, all the mortars in the regiment were also used to counterattack the Japanese artillery. After the Japanese planes came to assist yesterday afternoon, Tang Hongming withdrew the self-propelled guns of the heavy artillery regiment and now can only use the artillery equipped by each regiment to return fire.

However, even with the existing mortars of the 872nd Regiment, it still had the upper hand in the artillery battle with the Japanese army, suppressing the Japanese artillery fire. Just when the fighting between the two sides was at a stalemate, dozens of Japanese planes flew over the battlefield again. Yesterday afternoon, Chen Dian also organized heavy machine guns to shoot at the air, but the results were not great, and today Chen Dian simply ordered to pay attention to concealment and not to shoot at the air.

This time, the Japanese planes dropped not only heavy aviation*, but also quite a few*. The position of the 872nd Regiment was suddenly in a sea of flames. More than 100 officers and men of the 871st Regiment were burned to death and wounded. There was a sea of fire on the position, and even the fire could not be extinguished, so Chen Dian had no choice but to order to withdraw from the position first. It's just that the Japanese army couldn't seize the position of this sea of fire, and both sides stopped shooting and confronted each other across the position of this sea of fire.

As soon as the fire was smaller, the array ordered the third battalion to enter the position first. As soon as the three battalions entered the position, they found that the Japanese troops had rushed across the Mingjiang Bridge and were only a few dozen meters away from the front of the position. Tao Yuqiang, the commander of the third battalion, shouted: "Use *!" and then grabbed a * and threw it. He took the lead, and the officers and soldiers in the battalion also grabbed * and threw them out.

Hundreds* exploded in front of the position, and the flying shrapnel caused the charging Japanese soldiers to fall down one after another, and the momentum of the Japanese charge slowed down. At this moment, the officers and men of the 3rd Battalion and the 2nd Battalion followed behind also rushed to the position. The two battalions that stood still opened fire and rained bullets at the attacking Japanese troops, immediately suppressing the Japanese troops on the bridge deck and at the southern end of the bridge.

Seeing that he could enter the defenders' position as long as he charged a few dozen meters, the Japanese captain who commanded the attack was not willing to retreat like this, he organized his soldiers to occupy the southern end of the bridge and shoot at the defenders on the position. The distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters, and at such a short distance, as long as the marksmanship was still good, they could hit the target, so soldiers on both sides continued to be shot and fell.

The weapons of the 872nd Regiment still had the upper hand, and this distance* was also just in the right place, and the Japanese troops on the position could not even lift their heads under the pressure of many sharp guns and light and heavy machine guns. Seeing that the number of Japanese troops was getting smaller and smaller, the captain who led the attack was also a little unable to support it. Just as he was about to give the order to retreat, another infantry brigade came up behind him.

This was the last fully manned infantry brigade of the 242nd Infantry Wing, and the 242nd Infantry Wing was even worse than the 241st Infantry Wing, with more than half of its personnel already lost. After this infantry brigade came up, the two sides once again held there, and neither could help the other. In the bombing by Japanese planes just now, the 872nd Regiment's artillery also lost more than half, which was on par with the Japanese artillery.

At this point, the casualties of the 872nd Regiment also exceeded 500, and the casualties of a small battalion also made the regiment commander Chen Dian heartbroken. Seeing that the Japanese army was reinforced, Chen Dian was also desperate, he sent three battalions of troops to the position, and used the depth of the position to attack the Japanese army.

In the fierce battle of the Mingjiang Bridge, the division commander Tang Hongming and the commander of the 460th Brigade Wei Bin both stood on the city wall and saw it clearly. Wei Bin said to the division commander Tang Hongming: "Division, that side is now fighting for attrition, if we continue to be inferior to the Japanese army, I am afraid that we will lose both, Shizuo, do you think we should let the 871st Regiment go out of the city to support? Or give up the Mingjiang position?"

Tang Hongming thought for a while, raised his hand and looked at his watch, and replied: "Don't be in a hurry first, let the 873rd Regiment draw a battalion to support the 872nd Regiment." From the point of view of time, the Japanese planes will bomb again, and when the Japanese planes bomb again, let Chen Dian withdraw his position to the left side of the Mingjiang Bridge. After the Japanese army attacked the city, I asked the heavy artillery regiment to blow him up first, and then let the armored regiment attack, and at the same time, the 872nd Regiment and the 873rd Regiment attacked from both sides, so as to give the 48th Division a good look. ”

When Wei Bin heard this, he said excitedly: "Master, you are going to close the door and beat the dogs! I will immediately give orders to the 872nd Regiment and the 873rd Regiment." After speaking, Wei Bin trotted down to the city. After Tang Yu, the commander of the 873rd Regiment, received the order of the brigade commander Wei Bin, he immediately asked the commander of the 3rd battalion, Xue Ying, to lead the 3rd battalion to reinforce the 842nd Regiment. It seemed that the Japanese army was going to force the Mingjiang River from both sides of the Mingjiang Bridge, but Tang Yu put a battalion on one side here, and then blocked the river with the mortars in the regiment, and the Japanese army couldn't even cross half of the river. The 3rd Battalion was originally a reserve, and it happened to be sent to support the 872nd Regiment at this time.

The battle lasted for another two hours, and in these two hours the troops on both sides did not move much, and the two sides at the front of the position were still exchanging fire, but they were also well concealed by each other, and there were not many casualties. It was not until about one o'clock in the afternoon that dozens of Japanese planes flew over the battlefield again. Chen Dian had already received an order from the brigade commander Wei Bin and waited for the arrival of the Japanese plane.

As soon as the Japanese planes began to dive and drop bombs, Chen Dian led his troops down the trenches to the left hand side of the Mingjiang Bridge. The Japanese planes did not know that the position was empty, but they still dropped a large number of heavy aviation * and * on the position, so that the position was the same as the last time, and the smoke and dust and fire covered the entire position. Another hour passed, and the Japanese planes were all dropped*,* and began to return home, and the Japanese infantry were ready to charge the ground when the fire was a little smaller.

After the fire subsided, the Japanese troops poured into the position like a tide, but they did not encounter a single counterattack, and the excited Japanese soldiers couldn't help but cheer loudly. The commander of the Japanese army in charge of the command hurriedly reported to the wing commander An Teng for a large number. When the division commander, Lieutenant General Nakagawa Hiroshi, received the news that the Chinese army had finally abandoned its position on the south bank of the Yangtze River and fled, he could not help but be excited about this hard-won victory.

Lieutenant General Nakagawa Hiroshi ordered the 242nd Infantry Wing to rest in place, and the 243rd Infantry Wing advanced to Shangsi County, and with the cooperation of all the remaining artillery of the division, launched an attack on Shangsi County. The order was quickly conveyed, and the commander of the 243rd Infantry Wing, Zedok Dazuo, finally had the opportunity to attack, and couldn't help but be secretly excited.

In Zedok Dazuo's view, the strength of the Chinese army is indeed not weak, but after so many days of fighting, the two infantry wings of his own division have been disabled, and the Chinese army should be almost exhausted.

With this idea, Zedok Dazuo immediately asked the 243rd Infantry Wing to assemble, and then rushed across the Mingjiang Bridge and rushed all the way to Shangsi County. The Mingjiang Bridge was less than three kilometers away from Shangsi County, and it took only 20 minutes for the 243rd Wing to come to the outside of Shangsi County. Zedok Dazo ordered the troops to set up offensive positions, and the remaining artillery of the division also set up artillery positions not far away.

However, before the 2nd, 4th, and 3rd Wings could be arranged, thunderous cannons could be heard in the distance. The rumbling sound of the cannon stunned Zedok Dazuo, and before he could react, the cannonballs had already whizzed down. Here there are shells not only for 105 caliber self-propelled * guns, but also for German-made 15O caliber heavy * guns.

The artillery bombardment blew up the 2nd, 4th, and 3rd Wings. also blew up the heart of the division commander Nakagawa Hiroshi and sank into the abyss. Ten minutes later, the artillery fire extended backwards, but the city gate opened, and from the city gate drove out the steel monsters of the armored regiment in turn. Forty tanks led by five Cheetah-type heavy tanks and eighty light and heavy armored vehicles drove out of Shangsi County, and behind the battlecars were the officers and men of the 871st Regiment who were coordinated to protect them.

As soon as the armored combat vehicles appeared, the battle was out of suspense, and it was almost a one-sided slaughter. The Japanese fled backwards regardless of it, and even the Governor Squadron fled to the back. The artillery fire stopped, and the 242nd Infantry Wing, which had remained on the position to rest, was still preparing to meet the 243rd Wing, but unexpectedly, the branch that had just withdrawn was killed.

The 872nd Regiment and the 873rd Regiment attacked the Japanese 242nd Wing from the left and right sides, and the 242nd Wing immediately lost its strength, and after hastily resisting for a while, it withdrew across the Mingjiang Bridge. The 872nd Regiment and the 873rd Regiment recaptured their positions, but in this way, the retreat of the fleeing Japanese troops was completely blocked.