readx;? When it arrived in Wujin County, the 58th Division had only 2,200 officers and men, and its heavy weapons were exhausted, and the division had only three still usable Type 24 Mark heavy machine guns and eight Czech light machine guns. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoShangfeng asked the 58th Division to garrison Wujin County, mainly for the 58th Division to rest.

Although there were fortifications originally built by the 91st Division on the periphery of Wujin County, the commander of the 58th Division thought that Wuxi City was still fighting, so there would be nothing wrong with Changzhou City and Wujin County behind Wuxi City, and he never thought that the Japanese army would cross Taihu Lake by boat from Suzhou and go ashore in the direction of Yixing, let alone that the Japanese army would bypass Wuxi and launch a direct attack on Wujin County.

When the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army broke into less than 5 kilometers away from the county seat of Wujin, the guard troops of the 58th Division found that a large number of Japanese troops were coming straight to Wujin City, which was a guard platoon, and the platoon commander immediately sent two soldiers back to the city to report the news, while the rest of the soldiers used the fortifications on the spot to counterattack, and the soldiers of this platoon used rudimentary weapons and dozens of lives to drag the Japanese troops here for a full 40 minutes.

After receiving the report from the soldiers of the guard platoon, the commander of the 58th Division immediately thought of retreating instead of blocking the attack, because the current situation of the 58th Division was simply unable to confront the large Japanese army. However, he did not consider at all what would happen to the defenders of Changzhou after abandoning the county seat of Wujin, and what would happen to the troops in Wuxi who were fighting fiercely with the Japanese army.

So the 58th Division withdrew directly to Jintan County in the back, regardless of it, but fortunately, when retreating, it did not forget to inform the defenders of Changzhou. The Japanese Third Division occupied Wujin County without much effort, and as soon as Wujin County was lost, Changzhou City was directly exposed to the Japanese Third Division's troops, and the defense of Wuxi became useless, and the defenders of Wuxi were in danger of being surrounded by the Japanese army.

The Japanese 3rd Division sent only one brigade to pursue the 58th Division, which had retreated to Jintan County, while the large force continued to attack and advance towards Changzhou City. At this time, stationed in Changzhou City was the **156th Division, which was ready to cover the retreat of the Wuxi defenders at any time. After Li Jiang, commander of the 156th Division, learned that Wujin County on the flank of Changzhou had been occupied by a large number of Japanese troops, he immediately sent a telegram to the 3rd Theater Headquarters in Zhenjiang, and at the same time sent the 466th Brigade to the direction of Wujin to block the Japanese army.

When General Xue Yue, the acting commander of the Third Theater, learned that the Japanese had captured Wujin County, he immediately understood that the form of the defenders of Wuxi was not good. He immediately telegraphed and ordered the defenders of Changzhou to hold Changzhou for 72 hours. After sending the telegram, Xue Yue completely handed over the defense of Zhenjiang City to the 103rd Division, and then led all the personnel of the headquarters to withdraw across the Yangtze River.

The 156th Division stationed in Changzhou received an order from General Xue Yue, and the division commander, Lieutenant General Li Jiang, immediately ordered Brigade Commander Wang Dequan of the 466th Brigade to block the Japanese Third Division outside Changzhou City for 72 hours. The 466th Brigade hurried to the junction of Changzhou City and Wujin County to set up a defensive line, but the incident occurred suddenly, and the 156th Division did not establish a defensive position in the direction of Wujin County outside Changzhou, but fortunately, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal flowed through the middle of Changzhou City and Wujin County, and the 466th Brigade immediately seized the second bridge on the canal and built a defensive position relying on the canal.

The 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army was the vanguard of the Japanese army, and when the 6th Infantry Wing of the 5th Brigade rushed to the canal bridge, it found that the squadron had occupied the canal bridge and was rushing to repair fortifications along the canal. The wing commander of the 6th Wing, Kuranaga Tatsuharu Osa, did not wait for a rest, and immediately asked a large group of soldiers to launch an attack on the defenders' positions north of the bridge.

The 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, like the 22nd Division, did not come with the infantry wing of the division because of transportation problems. At this time, a large group of Japanese troops could only attack under the cover of mortars and several 70 infantry guns. The officers and men of the defending 466th Brigade did not have time to build strong fortifications, but only dug a trench that was not deep and built simple machine-gun fortifications with sandbags.

Guarding the north of the bridge are the officers and men of the first battalion of the 931st Regiment, and the firepower of this battalion is not bad, not only are there a lot of light and heavy machine guns, but the soldiers also have all Hanyang-made rifles in their hands, and there is also an artillery company directly under the regiment in the battalion for fire support, and this artillery company has four imitation German-style 75-caliber mountain guns.

Colonel Zheng Junkai, commander of the 931st Regiment, saw that the Japanese artillery fire was not fierce and there was no large-caliber heavy artillery, so he ordered the artillery company to return fire. The artillery position of the 931st Regiment was selected in a village 1,500 meters away from the riverside position, which was in a good position, which could not only shell the Japanese troops, but also conceal itself.

The Japanese also did not expect that the defenders would have artillery, so when the shells of the four mountain guns fell, the Japanese reacted. Four shells directly destroyed one infantry gun and two mortars of the Japanese army. When the Japanese shifted their guns to find the defenders' artillery positions, the adjusted mountain artillery shells fell again. This time the shells were more accurate, not only destroying the two infantry guns of the Japanese army, but also causing the detonation of the shells stacked by the Japanese army, and for a time a series of explosions sounded on the Japanese artillery position, and at the same time, the Japanese artillery was killed and wounded in the firelight, and several infantry guns were finished.

The 931st Regiment won the first victory, and the soldiers on the position were also jubilant, desperately pulling the trigger in the face of the infantry rushing up, and the Japanese had to retreat after leaving dozens of corpses on the bridge deck. Although the destruction of the artillery in the wing was nothing to the entire division, the blocking battle of the New 90th Division in the Battle of Shanghai still made Kuraga Chenzhi feel uneasy, and he was afraid that he would once again encounter the old opponent of the New 90th Division.

After Kuranaga reported the attack to the brigade commander, Major General Riichiro Katayama, Major General Riichiro Katayama attached great importance to Kuranaga Tatsuji's report and personally came to the south of the bridge to observe the defenders north of the bridge with a telescope. After observing for a long time, Major General Riichiro Katayama came to the conclusion that the defenders of Qiaobei were not the new 90th Division when they were in Shanghai.

Because the defenders north of the bridge not only had different weapons in their hands than the new 90th Division, but also the fortifications were poorly repaired, and it seemed that they were built in a hurry. In order to confirm his judgment, Riichiro Katayama once again mobilized the artillery of the whole brigade, and when shelling the position north of the bridge, he asked a large group of Japanese troops to attack the defenders north of the bridge under the cover of more than ten heavy machine guns.

This time, the artillery of the whole brigade and regiment was gathered together, and the strength was still considerable, with 20 infantry guns and nearly 100 mortars alone. With so many pieces of artillery firing at the same time, the defenders' positions north of the bridge were suddenly drowned in smoke and firelight. The officers and men on the position north of the bridge, faced with the shells that rained down, could only huddle in the trenches and resign themselves to fate.

The Japanese shelled for 20 minutes, because the Japanese artillery was too much, and the regiment commander Zheng Junkai did not dare to use four mountain guns to return fire. The 20-minute artillery bombardment of the Japanese army caused heavy casualties among the officers and men of the first battalion on the position, including the battalion commander, and a total of more than 160 officers and men were killed and wounded, and half of the officers and men of one battalion were killed and wounded in one shelling.

As soon as the shelling ended, a Japanese brigade charged under the cover of a dozen heavy machine guns. The positions of a dozen heavy machine guns were dusty, and the soldiers living in the trenches did not dare to take their heads lightly. One of the three heavy machine guns on the position was blown up, and the other two began to fire at the onrushing Japanese troops after the sandbag fortifications.

As soon as the two heavy machine guns fired, they immediately attracted most of the Japanese firepower, and only then could the soldiers with a light pressure stretch out their weapons from the trenches and shoot at the rushing Japanese soldiers. Fortunately, the bridge deck was not wide, and several light machine guns blocked the bridge deck. However, the Japanese grenadiers were specially aimed at the light machine guns, and in only a few minutes, several light machine gun shooters were killed under the Japanese grenadiers.

The light machine gunner can only quickly change places with a shuttle bullet, but in this way, it is difficult to ensure the continuous suppression and blockade of the light machine gun. The Japanese soldiers gradually arrived at the north end of the bridge, and they were about to rush out of the bridge, but once the Japanese soldiers crossed the bridge and spread out in a straggler formation, it would be even more difficult to deal with.

At this moment, the commander of the first company of the acting battalion commander shouted: "Brothers, hit hard, don't let little Japan rush across the bridge." After shouting, he personally picked up a light machine gun, ignored the attack of the Japanese army, and fired at the Japanese soldiers who rushed up with all his strength. Led by him, the soldiers in the trenches desperately shot at the Japanese with their weapons regardless of the danger.

When the Japanese rushed across the bridge and rushed to a distance of only more than 30 meters from the position, the defenders on the position began to throw grenades at the Japanese troops, and the Japanese also threw grenades at the defenders. Both sides were also desperate, the casualties were equally heavy, the heavy machine guns used by the Japanese to cover for fear of accidentally injuring their own people stopped shooting, and in the face of a large number of Japanese troops who were about to rush to the position, the defending soldiers jumped out of the trench with rifles loaded with bayonets.

More than 100 officers and men of the defenders fought hand-to-hand combat with bayonets against hundreds of Japanese soldiers, and there was almost no chance of victory, but none of the officers and men of the defenders fled, not a single one was afraid, even the wounded grabbed grenades and rolled out of the trenches, they rolled to the Japanese ranks, and at the same time as the Japanese bayonets fell, they pulled the grenades in their hands and bodies. Fighting bayonets, Chinese officers and soldiers were no match for the Japanese army, but desperate was different, one was not afraid of death, and even if he died, he would pull the grenade on his body and pull a few pads. Such a warrior is enough to make the enemy fearful.

When the Japanese finally could not bear to retreat, there were less than ten officers and men standing in front of the position. At this time, the soldiers of the second battalion finally came in with reinforcements, and what they saw was a scene in hell. From the front of the position to the north end of the bridge and then to the bridge deck lying densely packed with corpses, in the distance is the Japanese army, to within 30 meters there is almost no complete corpse, as if the Chinese ** people basically pulled the grenades on their bodies before the sacrifice, and in each incomplete Chinese defender corpse there were several Japanese soldiers in a circle.

The scene in front of them shocked the officers and men of the second battalion who had come up with reinforcements, and after they helped several comrades-in-arms who were still standing in front of the position into the trenches, they found that none of these comrades-in-arms were not injured, and two of them were extremely seriously injured and could not be saved.