readx;? After the first tentative attack was repulsed, the Japanese also realized that the barbed wire was an obstacle to them, so during the second shelling, many shells fell on the barbed wire, and the shells that fell in front of the position also detonated several anti-infantry mines. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe Japanese troops, who had suffered from mines in the previous attack, found that there were mines in front of the position, and they bombed in front of the position even more vigorously.

The artillery bombardment lasted for half an hour, almost plowing the ground in front of the position, and the 67th Brigade sent a large battalion of infantry to attack. The barbed wire fence in front of the position was completely destroyed, and the Japanese moved forward while firing at the position while pulling away from the skirmishers. The commander of the first company saw that there were a lot of Japanese troops coming up this time, and ordered all the weapons on the position to block the attack.

Still a hundred meters away from the position, more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns formed a tight fire network on the position, and the Japanese troops were completely suppressed by the ferocious firepower, and it was difficult to move an inch. After many soldiers were killed and wounded, they retreated again. Although the Japanese attacked on this day and killed and wounded many soldiers, they still had no way to hold their positions.

It wasn't until Lieutenant General Fujita Shin, the commander of the 3rd Division, led the rest of the 3rd Division to join the 22nd Division, that the two division commanders summed up and sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Hatohiko Asakanomiya, the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, requesting that planes be sent to assist in the battle. After learning that Zhenjiang City had an aircraft to assist him, Lieutenant General Hatohiko also felt that sending planes to help the battle would be a good way to speed up the attack.

After receiving a telegram from Lieutenant General Susumu Fujita, commander of the 3rd Division, he finally decided to send planes to assist in the battle in all three directions of attack. At this time, the Third Flying Regiment, which was originally stationed in Taiwan, had already been stationed at Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport, and with the addition of carrier-based aircraft on three aircraft carriers, the number of planes that the Central China Dispatch Army could command had reached 400, and this was due to the loss of more than 100 planes in the battle with the Chinese Air Force in the early days of the Shanghai Campaign.

A third of the four hundred aircraft were fighters, the rest were bombers. After having a banquet with Navy Commander Nagakiyo Kawatani and Rear Admiral Saga Tadaharu, Commander of the Third Flying Regiment, King Hatohiko of Asakanomiya reached an agreement with everyone that two aircraft teams, the Army Air Force and the Navy Air Force, would work together to support the Army's three offensive directions.

Next, the attacks of the 3rd and 22nd Divisions outside Liyang City, as well as the 9th and 101st Divisions of the Japanese Army under Dangtu City, were supported by Japanese aircraft. However, the Chinese Air Force lost nearly 100 of its only 300 planes in the early stage of the Shanghai Campaign, and the rest of the planes were withdrawn to the rear cities of Wuhan and Chongqing, so the Japanese planes were unscrupulously in the skies over China.

Wang Haitao's air defense weapons were limited, except for the dozens of German-made anti-aircraft guns that Lao Jiang had taken away, the rest could only be deployed in Nanjing City for air defense, and he was completely unable to distribute air defense weapons to all troops. Therefore, the defenders in several places could only withstand the wanton bombardment of Japanese aircraft and artillery.

Liyang City is better here, after all, the fortifications must be built strongly, and the 91st Division has a large number of light and heavy machine guns, and when the anti-aircraft shooting is organized, the Japanese planes also have some scruples after being shot down. And here in Ma'anshan, first because the Ninth Division used poison gas bombs, lost Dangtu Town, and then the position outside Ma'anshan was bombarded by the heavy artillery brigade of the Japanese army, and it could only barely resist, and at this time, as soon as the Japanese planes joined the attack, the 112th Division guarding Ma'anshan could no longer resist the Japanese attack.

The 112th Division still held Ma'anshan for three days with the participation of the Japanese army's heavy artillery and aircraft, and the deputy division commander, Major General Tao Jingkui, was martyred, and at the same time, Major General Li Deming, commander of the 334th Brigade, was martyred, Major General Ma Wanzhen, commander of the 336th Brigade, was seriously wounded, two of the four regiment commanders were sacrificed, one was wounded, and the battalion commander and company commander were basically replaced.

When the division commander Huo Shouyi got Wang Haitao's consent to withdraw from Ma'anshan, there were only 2,000 people in the whole division, including the lightly wounded, and there were only a few heavy weapons left. The 112th Division withdrew until Xiaguan in Nanjing, and then stopped to rest. As soon as Ma'anshan was lost, the Japanese Ninth Division launched a direct attack on the front line of Dashengguan on the outskirts of Nanjing.

When the 9th Division advanced to the front line of Dashengguan, the 101st Division sent a wing to advance in the direction of Danyang Town, the target was Lishui Town, with the intention of cutting off the retreat of the Liyang defenders to Nanjing. Fortunately, the movement of this wing was discovered by the reconnaissance group of the reconnaissance regiment in a timely manner, and Wang Haitao reported to Wang Haitao, who received the report of the reconnaissance regiment and immediately ordered the 58th Division stationed at Niushou Mountain to send troops to strengthen the defense of Lishui Town and ensure the safety of the rear road of the 91st Division in Liyang County.

After receiving the order, Feng Shengfa, commander of the 58th Division, knew that the 91st Division guarding Liyang County was Wang Haitao's own troops, and if Lishui Town was lost and the 91st Division was finished, Commander Wang was afraid that even his own Commander Yu would not be able to protect himself, so he immediately sent Major General Qiu Weida, the commander of the 172nd Brigade, who was close to him, to lead the 172nd Brigade to Lishui Town to garrison it.

After walking a brigade, only the 174th Brigade was left in the entire Niushou Mountain fortifications, and the Japanese army reached the Great Victory Pass, and the Great Victory Pass was lost, and his own Niushou Mountain position was the last fortification outside Nanjing, and only one brigade How to hold this Niushou Mountain position, Feng Shengfa couldn't help but make a difficulty.

After thinking about it, Feng Shengfa still sent a telegram asking for help to Commander Wang. In Wang Haitao's Nanjing City, 10,000 members of the First Militia Brigade have been trained for more than 20 days, and they also have the appearance of troops. The 1st Brigade was divided into four infantry squadrons and a mortar squadron, and the officers were selected from the teaching corps, which could be regarded as having some combat effectiveness.

The 10,000 people of the second brigade have been recruited and are preparing to be put into training, so Wang Haitao's troops are still enough. The outermost defense line of Nanjing City has been fought for 20 days, Liyang County is still in the hands of the 91st Division, it should be regarded as the completion of the task, even if Liyang City is lost here in Liyang below, there is a more difficult Jiangning fortress to attack, it is estimated that the Japanese army will have a lot of difficulty to defeat the Jiangning fortress.

And in the direction of Tangshan, even if Ye Zhao's 160th Division can't stop the Japanese army, there is also the 90th Division of Purple Mountain, which is the most reassuring existence, and all the chariots are also placed in the direction of Zhongshan Gate, so it will not be too much of a problem to hold Zhongshan Gate all the way. Finally, it is the first line of Dasheng Pass and Niushou Mountain.

There is only one regiment in the defense of Dasheng Pass, in the face of Japanese aircraft and heavy artillery, even if the terrain of Dasheng Pass is dangerous, but how long it can be defended is not known, Dasheng Pass is lost, Niushou Mountain is the last position in the south outside the city of Nanjing, Niushou Mountain is lost again, the Japanese army can reach under the city wall of Nanjing, and the Xiaguan Wharf is also within the attack range of the Japanese army.

Dashengguan is too small to be able to hold on for a long time, but the Niushou Mountain position cannot be lost, Feng Shengfa's 58th Division to defend the Niushou Mountain position is already undermanned, and now another brigade has been sent to Lishui Town, and there is no one to use. Thinking of this, Wang Haitao decided to send the 41st Division, which was left as a reserve, to the direction of Niushou Mountain.

Wang Haitao urgently called for Lieutenant General Zhang Zhenhan, commander of the 41st Division, in the headquarters, and Wang Haitao's task to Zhang Zhenhan's 41st Division was to strengthen the position of Niushou Mountain with one brigade and the other brigade to garrison Meishan Town and Xishan Bridge to prevent the Japanese army from attacking the Xiaguan Wharf with part of its forces after capturing the Dasheng Pass.

Zhang Zhenhan's 41st Division, the 2nd Brigade, 4th Regiment, and a guard battalion had a total of 6,500 officers and men, and their weapons and equipment were in good condition; although they were inferior to the 48th Division, they were also newly replaced Hanyang-made rifles, and each platoon could also have a light machine gun. In order to strengthen the firepower of the 41st Division, Wang Haitao transferred 10 heavy machine guns, 10 light machine guns, 10 mortars and 50 submachine guns from the warehouse and handed them over to Zhang Zhenhan.

After Zhang Zhenhan left, Wang Haitao, who was not at ease, not only informed Song Xilian, the commander of the 36th Division, that Song Xilian should strengthen the defense in the south, but also asked the teaching corps to send a regiment to garrison at Shuiximen, and the training of the first militia brigade was also placed in the Caochangmen area near the Xiaguan wharf. With these arrangements, Wang Haitao relaxed a little.

However, the Japanese army is getting closer and closer to Nanjing, and the preparations for street battles in the city should also begin, so Wang Haitao found Lieutenant General Xiao Lingshan again, and Wang Haitao learned that after so many days of persuasion, there are still 500,000 people in Nanjing City who are still watching, but the women and the old and weak have crossed the river a lot, and now more than 80 percent of the people in Nanjing City are young and middle-aged, and many factories are still in production, and many workers are also working.

Wang Haitao thought about it for a while, and asked Xiao Lingshan to intensify his persuasion of the people, close down some factories that were not for special needs, change the supply of daily necessities to military management, and strive to transfer half of the people out of Nanjing City within a month. Two pontoon bridges can be built at Shimonoseki Wharf for traffic. The matter of building the pontoon bridge was jointly completed by the logistics troops of the 90th Army and some of the logistics units of the Teaching Corps, and after the pontoon bridge was completed, it was jointly guarded by the 36th Division and the 1st Teaching Corps.

Xiao Lingshan promised to come down and prepare. Wang Haitao also found Captain Gui Yongqing, Chief of Staff Colonel Qiu Qingquan, Deputy Captain of the Teaching Corps, Major General Zhou Zhenqiang, and others.

At present, the task of the teaching corps is very heavy, not only to train the militia brigade, but also to begin preparations for street battles in Nanjing, and the street fighting fortifications must first start at the gates of Zhongshanmen, Zhonghua Gate, Guanghua Gate, Jiqing Gate, Shuixi Gate, and Kazimen, and then gradually build into the city, and it is necessary to mobilize enough explosives to make explosives packages, and be ready to destroy and blast the main buildings in the city at any time.

In addition, you instructed the corps to be prepared to support all places, hoping that you will not be allowed to fight the Japanese army outside the city, you are a model unit that has undergone long-term training, and it is a pity to lose in the battle on the front line, it is best for you to keep it and expand the training you received in peacetime to all troops. ”