readx;? Because Fangshan is really not big, while reinforcing those national defense fortifications, Tan Di, the commander of the 159th Division, also built a fortification on the mountainside, and sent the 949th Regiment of the 475th Brigade to garrison here, with the purpose of guarding the Yonggu fortifications on the top of the mountain. www.biquge.info In addition to the fortifications on the top of the mountain, the 950th Regiment was stationed in the rest of the fortresses and trenches.

The division headquarters and the 476th Brigade were placed in Jiangning County, relying on the city wall, and fortifications were built, and all the mortars in the division were placed in the bunker fortifications on the city wall to fight the infantry attacking by the Japanese army. The 15th Division was to face the 3rd and 22nd Divisions of the Japanese Army, and although these two divisions did not have heavy artillery to help, the artillery wings of the two divisions should not be underestimated.

After the exchange of fire with the Japanese army at Dasheng Pass, the Niushou Mountain position was also attacked by the Japanese army. Since the withdrawal of Qiu Weida's 172nd Brigade on the Niushou Mountain position, the strength of the 172nd Brigade has reached three brigades. At the forefront was the 174th Brigade, and the brigade commander Wu Jiguang guarded the 343rd Regiment and the 344th Regiment as battalions in the first ring fortification at the foot of the mountain.

The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Masaki Ito, sent the 101st Infantry Brigade as the main attacking force, and the commander of the 101st Infantry Brigade, Major General Sato Shozaburo, adopted the method of breaking through the key points and pinning them on the left and right when facing the ring-shaped defensive position at the foot of the mountain. He used one wing to carry out a key attack on a 100-meter-wide section of the frontal position, and another wing to make a diversionary attack on both sides of the position of this key attack, so that both sides of this position could not support this position that was being attacked.

On the main position of Niushou Mountain, there is a mountain artillery battalion of the 159th Division, eight imitation German 75-millimeter mountain guns, and the effective firing range is 4,300 meters, which is enough to hit the Japanese infantry attacking at the foot of the mountain. However, it was not easy for the Japanese field artillery to attack the mountain artillery battalion of the main position on the top of the mountain, because the mountains were high and densely forested, and it was difficult to accurately determine the position of the artillery position.

Under such circumstances, the position at the foot of Niushou Mountain, with its fortifications and strengthened firepower, coupled with the support of the mountaintop artillery battalion, temporarily held the territory of the 101st Division of the Japanese army. Lieutenant General Masaki Ito, the commander of the 101st Division of the Japanese Army, saw that several days of continuous attacks could not break through the defenders' defensive positions, so he began to send a telegram requesting support from aircraft.

Wang Haitao is seated in Nanjing, and now there are the 154, 1562, and 1562 divisions of the 83rd Army, plus the remainder of the 103rd Division, which have been withdrawn, and are resting in the barracks inside the Zhongshan Gate. Among the three divisions, the 103rd Division, which had withdrawn after garrisoning Zhenjiang, suffered the greatest losses, and the total number of officers and men in the division was less than 2,000, including the lightly wounded.

Wang Haitao gave preferential treatment to the three divisions that had been withdrawn and the 112th Division in Xiaguan, not only supplying all kinds of military supplies, but also giving each division 20,000 legal currency condolences money, although these condolences were not much in the hands of each soldier, but still raised the morale of these officers and men.

When Wang Haitao was paying close attention to the second position outside Nanjing, something happened that Wang Haitao didn't expect at all, that is, Tangshan was lost. As far as Wang Haitao knows, the 16th Division of the Japanese army only arrived at the Tangshan position two days ago, and the two sides only formally exchanged fire yesterday.

Anger and puzzlement made Wang Haitao personally come to Zhongshan Gate to meet this Master Ye Zhao to see what he said. Wang Haitao was followed not only by the officers and soldiers of a battalion of the guard regiment, but also by the military police of a battalion sent by Xiao Shanling. At the temporary station of the 160th Division, Division Commander Ye Zhao and two brigade commanders, Deng Zhicai and Liu Shuzong, were waiting for Wang Haitao's arrival.

After Wang Haitao came in with the guards, he stared at Ye Zhao deadly. Ye Zhao was a little overwhelmed by Wang Haitao's angry eyes, and only after a while did he say to Wang Haitao: "Commander Wang, two Japanese troops suddenly attacked my division headquarters in Qilin Town, and I thought that the Japanese army had broken through our division's defense line in Tangshan, and in order to preserve our strength and engage the Japanese army again, I ordered a retreat. ”

Wang Haitao asked: "Commander Ye, you said that two Japanese troops raided your headquarters, how many Japanese troops are there? Have you received a report that the Japanese troops on the front line have broken through their positions?" Ye Zhao was stunned and speechless after hearing this. After a while, Wang Haitao said: "Why can't you answer, the Japanese army is obviously infiltrating with small forces, as long as you hold the defense line and send troops to search for these small groups of Japanese troops, then nothing will happen." And you are obviously afraid of the enemy like a tiger, and the two small units of the Japanese army are scared of your courage. Now that the Japanese army has easily broken through our Tangshan defense line, causing my Nanjing city defense to be completely passive, do you think I should punish you for the crime of escaping?"

Ye Zhao was frightened by Wang Haitao's words, and said with a pale face: "Commander Wang, I know that I am wrong, you can let me go, I Ye Zhao will have a good reward." Wang Haitao glanced at him and said: "You, the commander of the 66th Army, I couldn't control your head, but Chairman Chiang handed over the heavy responsibility of Nanjing's city defense to me, and you retreated without a fight and withdrew from the position without authorization. ”

Then Wang Haitao said loudly: "Ye Zhao, commander of the 66th Army and commander of the 160th Division, did not listen to orders, abandoned his position without authorization, and escaped from the battle, and his post as commander of the 66th Army and commander of the 160th Division is now dismissed, and he will be detained and handed over to the military court for review. The post of commander of the 66th Army was temporarily replaced by General Huang Zhinan, chief of staff, and the post of commander of the 160th Division was temporarily replaced by Deng Zhicai, former commander of the 478th Brigade. ”

After the announcement, the gendarmes stepped forward and escorted the dejected Ye Zhao down. Wang Haitao said to Deng Zhicai: "General Deng, the soldiers are fast, your troops must take advantage of the fact that the Japanese army is not firmly established, launch a strong attack on Qilin Town, and must recapture Qilin Town and hold it on the spot." Deng Zhicai stood up and said: "Commander Wang, I will definitely do my best to recapture Qilin Town." ”

Wang Haitao nodded. Deng Zhicai immediately called the four regiment commanders of the whole division over and said: "Shangfeng ordered us to immediately counterattack Qiqi Town with all our might, and I will order you to lead your 955th Regiment as the first echelon, Yu Yingqi to lead the 956th Regiment as the second echelon, Yu Ziwu to lead the 959th Regiment to be the third echelon, and Zhai Zongming Xin's 960th Regiment to be the general reserve." The whole division immediately launched an attack on Qilin Town, this attack was only allowed to win and not lose, and Qilin Town must be taken at all costs. ”

After arranging, Deng Zhicai looked at Wang Haitao, and Wang Haitao said: "Let's start, I'm waiting for your good news here." Deng Zhicai, Liu Shuzong, the commander of the 480th Brigade, and the four regiment commanders saluted Wang Haitao and retreated. After the few people left, Wang Haitao said to Tangshan Leopard: "Mountain Leopard, you inform Tang Xiaoshan and ask him to send a reconnaissance battalion to search for a small Japanese force near Tangshan and annihilate it. In addition, Tang Renxin of the 90th Division was notified and asked to support the 160th Division with artillery fire, but he was not allowed to use the 130th cannon. ”

Tangshan Leopard agreed to send a report. An hour later, the sound of the counteroffensive reached Wang Haitao, as for whether he could recapture Qilin Town, Wang Haitao was not sure in his heart, Wang Haitao only hoped that the Japanese army had not advanced from Tangshan Town to Qilin Town. In the evening, the 160th Division sent people to report to Wang Haitao that it had repelled a large group of Japanese troops in Qilin Town and recaptured Qilin Town.

Wang Haitao breathed a sigh of relief and left the place. Before Wang Haitao went back, he went to the 90th Division of Purple Mountain, and ordered Tang Renxin to pay close attention to the movements of the Japanese army in the direction of the Qilin Formation, and be ready to meet the Japanese army at any time. In addition, the guard battalion remaining in the 90th Division should pay more attention to reconnaissance to prevent a sneak attack by a small group of Japanese troops.

When Wang Haitao returned to the headquarters, another piece of bad news was waiting for him. The 302nd Regiment of the 51st Division, in addition to the two signal soldiers who reported the news, including the regiment commander Colonel Chen Zhi, were all martyred, and their resistance caused the Japanese Ninth Division to lose two brigades of men, and now the Ninth Division has lost half of its men and horses all the way to attack.

Wang Haitao was still very sad about the martyrdom of Chen Zhi and the 302nd Regiment, but Wang Haitao immediately thought that once the victory was lost, Xishan Bridge was about to face the attack of the Japanese army, and the 41st Division of the National Army guarding Xishan Bridge was not strong in combat.

The Japanese Ninth Division must have suffered considerable losses so far, so is it possible to encircle the Ninth Division under the city of Nanjing and eat it with superior forces in order to deter other Japanese troops? After looking at the map for a long time, Wang Haitao urgently summoned Zhang Zhenhan, commander of the 41 st Division, to teach Gui Yongqing, chief of staff, Qiu Qingquan, chief of staff, and Song Xilian, commander of the 36 th Division.

After everyone arrived, Wang Haitao said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the 9th Division of the Japanese Army, with the assistance of the 5th Brigade of Independent Heavy Artillery, used aircraft and artillery to capture our Dashengguan position, and the 302nd Regiment of the 51st Division was martyred. Now the 9th Division is again attacking the front-line position of Xishan Bridge. I am ready to completely annihilate the 9th Division of the Japanese Army in order to intimidate the rest of the Japanese army. ”

Wang Haitao said this, everyone below began to discuss, and after waiting for a while, Wang Haitao said: "Everyone, let me talk about my thoughts first, and then let's discuss it." My idea was to first let go of the first-line position of Xishan Bridge, let the Ninth Division attack the city of Nanjing, and then the teaching corps would defend Jiqing Gate and Shuixi Gate according to the city wall. The Japanese army could not attack the city wall, so they would divide their troops to attack Xiaguan.

After the Japanese army was in confusion, I instructed the corps to attack the Japanese army from Jiqingmen and Shuiximen, and the 36th Division sent elite troops to attack the Japanese army from the direction of Xiaguan, and then I used the armored regiment and the guard regiment to attack at the same time, striving to completely annihilate the Ninth Division in the area from Nanjing City to the Yangtze River. ”