readx;? The 112th Division and the 103rd Division were both troops withdrawn from the Jiangyin Fortress, and they fought bravely to kill the enemy in the Jiangyin Fortress, using the heavy artillery on the fortress to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army many times, and in the defensive battle for three days and three nights, the Japanese army suffered thousands of casualties. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoIf it weren't for the fact that the Japanese army had bypassed the Jiangyin fortress and arrived at the foot of Changjuku Castle, they would not have withdrawn.

The 112th Division was originally the Northeast Army, and it fought desperately on the front line in order to wash away the infamy of the Northeast Army for giving up the three eastern provinces without resistance. Wang Haitao came to bring the equipment of the two regiments this time, all of which were replaced by the teaching corps, although they are not as good as the German-style equipment, but they are also first-class in the first class. The original equipment of the 112th Division was good, but after it was withdrawn from Jiangyin, it was replenished with several thousand recruits, and the equipment of these recruits was very poor.

Although Wang Haitao also ordered a batch of equipment to be replenished from the warehouse, there were few people and many soldiers still used old-fashioned weapons. Now the equipment of the two regiments brought by Wang Haitao can be said to be a relief in the snow, which makes the division commander Huo Shouyi grateful. In addition to light weapons, Wang Haitao also brought 12 domestically produced 80 mortars and hundreds of artillery shells this time, which gave the 112th Division more confidence.

Accompanied by Division Commander Huo Shouyi, Wang Haitao inspected the fortifications of the 112th Division. The 112th Division is in line with the idea that the weapons and equipment are not good, so they use strong fortifications to confront the Japanese army, so the fortifications outside the city are quite good, not only the quality is very high, but also the layout is reasonable, the only pity is that the firepower is weaker, but with the weapons and equipment brought this time, this situation should be improved.

Wang Haitao encouraged Huo Shouyi again and then left Ma'anshan, Liyang was garrisoned by his own 91st Division, and the defensive position was built by the 90th Division, so there would be no problems. Wang Haitao did not stop in Liyang and went straight to Zhenjiang. As soon as they approached Zhenjiang, there were constantly retreating troops passing by on the road, and judging by the number and the state of the soldiers, it should be the troops withdrawn from the front line.

Unlike in history, the retreat of Shanghai in history became a rout, the Japanese army was behind the **, the Wufu defense line and the Xicheng defense line did not play any role at all, and the Japanese army directly killed the periphery of Nanjing. And now the Wufu defense line has blocked the Japanese army for more than ten days, and then the Japanese army on the Xicheng defense line has been attacking for more than half a month, but still has not been able to break through the Xicheng defense line, and the troops withdrawn from the battlefield, although the casualties are not small, but basically they are all retreating in formation, and there are not many stragglers.

Hu Zongnan's First Army, which had been resting in Zhenjiang, had already withdrawn across the Yangtze River and deployed defenses along the line of Liukou, Pukou, and Jiangpu in the north of the Yangtze River. Zhenjiang has been handed over to the 103rd Division, which is a Guizhou army, which has just been reorganized and has three regiments under its jurisdiction totaling more than 5,000 officers and men before leaving for Jiangyin, and its weapons are Hanyang-made and Czech-style light and heavy machine guns.

After a bloody battle between the Jiangyin fortress and the Japanese army, there were only more than 3,000 people when they were withdrawn, and the Guizhou soldiers, who had supplemented a regiment, now have more than 4,000 officers and soldiers. In terms of weapons, Hanyang-made and Czech-style machine guns are the mainstay, and there are only more than a dozen heavy machine guns in the whole division, and there are no heavy weapons such as mortars. When Wang Haitao replenished the troops below with stockpiled equipment, not much equipment was allocated to the 103rd Division, but more grenades.

There is not only the 103rd Division in Zhenjiang City, but also a temporary headquarters of the 3rd Theater here, and the 156th Division of the Guangdong Army is also stationed in Zhenjiang. The 156th Division is a division of the 2nd Brigade and 4th Regiment system, with more than 7,000 officers and men in the division, and the division commander is Deng Longguang, commander of the 83rd Army, who is also in charge, and another division of the 83rd Army, the 154th Division, is fighting fiercely in Wuxi under the leadership of division commander Wu Jianxiong.

At this time, the commander of the Xicheng defense line in the temporary command of the Third Theater was General Xue Yue, a famous anti-Japanese general who had just taken over as commander of the Third Theater and commander of the 19th Group Army. When Wang Haitao saw General Xue Yue in the temporary headquarters, he immediately stepped forward and saluted and said, "Wang Haitao, the commander of the 90th Army, has seen Commander Xue. ”

Xue Yue was extremely appreciative of Wang Haitao, the former commander of the new 90th Division, who annihilated two divisions of the Japanese army on the battlefield in Shanghai and made great achievements, and after the establishment of the 90th Army under the jurisdiction of the 19th Group Army, as soon as Xue Yue took office as the commander of the 19th Group Army, he wanted to transfer the 90th Army to participate in the defense of the Xicheng defensive line, but first Wang Haitao was not in the army, Chen Cheng did not allow him to be transferred, and as soon as Wang Haitao returned, he was personally appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the commander of Nanjing's urban defense, so Xue Yue had no choice but to do it.

After seeing Wang Haitao today, I saw that this person did not have the arrogance of the commander of Nanjing's city defense at all, and he couldn't help but have a good impression of this person in the face of his own subordinates. Xue Yue said: "Commander Wang doesn't need to be polite, you are now the commander of Nanjing's city defense, and the troops under your jurisdiction are much more than the Nineteenth Group Army." ”

Wang Haitao replied: "Chief Xue, the humble post originally relied on the courage of blood and spirit, and wanted to lead the 90th Army to defend the city of Nanjing with the strength of one army, but Chairman Jiang mobilized a lot of troops to my command for fear of insufficient troops. Don't make fun of the humble position, no matter how you say it, the humble position is also Chief Xue, your subordinate. ”

Xue Yue was very satisfied with Wang Haitao's attitude, so he said: "Chairman Jiang personally appointed you as the commander of Nanjing's city defense, which is a sign of trust in you and an affirmation of your performance in the Battle of Shanghai. Is there something you are doing here today?" Wang Haitao replied: "If you remember the teachings of Chief Xue, you will definitely fight the Japanese army to the end under the city of Nanjing. Today, I came here to see the defense preparations of the 103rd Division stationed in Zhenjiang under the order of my humble position, and at the same time I came to meet Commander Xue. ”

Xue Yue said: "If you use one division of the 103rd Division to defend Zhenjiang, I'm afraid that the strength is weaker, not to mention that the strength of the 103rd Division is only more than 4,000 people, and the equipment is even worse, I'm afraid that you won't be able to defend Zhenjiang." Wang Haitao replied: "What Commander Xue said is extremely true, but there are really no soldiers available in the hands of the lowly officials, so they have to put the 103rd Division here, but the lowly officials have brought some weapons and ammunition to the 103rd Division this time, I hope they can hold on for a while longer." ”

Xue Yue thought for a while and said: "For the sake of dealing with the Japanese, I will help you, in case Wuxi is lost, the 156th Division will be topped up as a reserve, and now I order the 156th Division to continue to garrison Zhenjiang City after receiving the retreat of the defenders of Wuxi, and obey your command, and the heavy artillery regiment withdrawn from Changzhou will also be handed over to you to command, but there are not many heavy artillery shells, I am afraid it will not help much." ”

Wang Haitao was very grateful to Xue Yue, and after saying a bunch of words of gratitude, he said goodbye and left, and went to find He Zhizhong, the commander of the 103rd Division. He Zhizhong was commanding the soldiers to strengthen the city wall and establish a firepower point on the Zhenjiang city wall at this time, when he heard that Wang Haitao, the commander of Nanjing's city defense, was coming, and hurriedly explained to his subordinates and came to see Wang Haitao.

After seeing Wang Haitao saluting each other, Wang Haitao went straight to the point and said: "Let me tell you a few good news first, first, I brought you the weapons and equipment of a regiment to the 103rd Division, which are all good things that have been replaced by the teaching corps. Second, in the unlikely event that Wuxi is lost, the 156th Division will also participate in the Zhenjiang Defensive Battle after receiving the retreat of the Wuxi defenders, and defend Zhenjiang City together with your 103rd Division. Third, Wuxi is lost, and the heavy artillery regiment of the third theater will also be withdrawn to Zhenjiang to participate in the Zhenjiang defensive battle. ”

For He Zhizhong, these three pieces of news are undoubtedly good news, and he was thinking about the poor weapons, so he sent good equipment, which undoubtedly solved the fundamental problem, and he was worried about the lack of troops, so the 156th Division coordinated the battle. Coupled with the fire support of heavy artillery, this Zhenjiang City is much easier to defend.

Thinking of this, He Zhizhong said to Wang Haitao: "My subordinates thank the commander for his care and support, and my 103rd Division will fight bravely to kill the enemy and block the Japanese army under this Zhenjiang City." Wang Haitao nodded, and only then, accompanied by He Zhizhong, inspected the construction of the fortifications in Zhenjiang City. The 103rd Division was inferior to the 112th Division in the construction of fortifications, and Wang Haitao found a lot of deficiencies, and after proposing to He Zhizhong, he asked them to rectify it. By the time Wang Haitao returned to Nanjing, it had already darkened.

The next day, Wang Haitao was about to go to the second line of defense to have a look, but received a report that General Xu Yuanquan led two divisions of the Second Army had arrived at Xiaguan Wharf. So Wang Haitao took the guards and Xiao Lingshan, the acting mayor of Nanjing and commander of the gendarmerie, and rushed to Xiaguan to greet General Xu Yuanquan, the commander of the Second Army.

When Wang Haitao and Xiao Lingshan rushed to the Xiaguan wharf, the vanguard regiment of the 48th Division had already disembarked and was forming a team on the wharf, and the regiment commander saw a group of soldiers coming in from outside, two of whom wore the rank of general and one of them wore the rank of lieutenant general. Wang Haitao asked: "Are you from the 48th Division?

The regimental commander replied: "Report to the commander, we are from the vanguard regiment of the 48th Division, and the division seat is still on the boat behind, and we are almost there." Wang Haitao nodded and said, "Okay, I know, you can get busy." After another half an hour's wait, two troop transports approached the dock, and from the first boat came down several officers, led by about fifty years of age, not very tall, and dressed in lieutenant general's uniform.

At this time, a soldier stepped forward and said something to this person, and he stood down and looked at Wang Haitao. Seeing that Wang Haitao was waiting for him, this person strode towards Wang Haitao, and when he got closer, this person asked hesitantly: "I don't know if you are?" Before Wang Haitao could answer, Xiao Shanling next to him replied: "This is General Wang Haitao, the new commander of Nanjing's urban defense, and I am Xiao Shanling, the acting mayor of Nanjing and commander of the gendarmerie." ”

This person immediately stood up and saluted and said: "Xu Yuanquan, commander of the Tenth Army and commander of the 48th Division, was ordered to lead the Tenth Army to guard Nanjing, and is now reporting to Commander Wang. There is a long wait for the commander of King Lao, and he really does not dare to be a lowly position. Wang Haitao smiled and said: "After all your troops arrive, go to the barracks in Zhongshan Gate to standby, and you and a few chief officers will go to the headquarters with me first." ”