The heavens start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 654 Situation

But now, the situation is very different from before. The garrison force in Wusong direction is about one division and tens of thousands of people. Once the [-]th brigade retreats without a fight, the Japanese army will be unscrupulous, expand the combat zone, and hoard ammunition. The consequences will be disastrous.

He sighed helplessly.

In general, the Battle of Songhu has reached the current situation. The Japanese navy is anchored on the Huangpu River and strategic supplies have begun to land. If the Japanese army does not continue to increase troops in Shanghai, the current situation is acceptable. At present, the whole country Local armies from various places are gathering in the direction of Wusong. Locking the Japanese army at Wusongkou is what needs to be done now.

As long as the Japanese 11rd Division cannot join up with the Japanese [-]th Division, the situation in Shanghai will be considered stable.

What Chen Cheng didn't know was that the so-called stable situation was only temporary, and the increase in Japanese troops was an inevitable trend.

The documents submitted by the [-]th Brigade were irrelevant to him. A single soldier could not affect the direction of the war.The strength of the national army in Baoshan City was not enough to withstand the Japanese attack. After the Japanese army occupied Baoshan West Street and the Sitang River Bridge, a small number of broken troops poured into Baoshan City. This strength was still not enough.

Chen Cheng didn't know which troops to send into Baoshan City. After much thought, the documents submitted by the [-]th Brigade gave him an idea.

"Send some soldiers with higher combat capabilities into Baoshan to assist Yao Ziqing in defending Baoshan!"

"Special Operations Team!"

The concept of special operations teams has long existed, similar to those of intelligence personnel, but there are very few special operations teams used in the military. In this era, there is no concept of special operations teams, and wars often rely on Strength in numbers wins.

On the side of the national army, they basically rely on the human sea tactic. The bald man claims to have 200 million elite soldiers and strong generals, and this is the case.

Weapons and equipment are of inferior quality and lack heavy firepower, so the superiority in military strength becomes particularly important.The special operations team is composed of elite soldiers and cannot actually affect the situation of the war. Chen Cheng thinks this way, mainly because Baoshan's geographical location is special and requires reinforcements. Xia Yuan is a company alone and can support the past. He believes that he can hold on. Baoshan takes longer to buy more time for reinforcements.

The special operations team is a new concept, and it was Xia Yuan's appearance that inspired Chen Cheng.

Such a soldier with accurate marksmanship should be able to play a huge role if placed in Baoshan City to shoot at the attacking Japanese troops and kill their machine gunners and squad leaders.

At the same time Chen Cheng received the document.

The sky was dark, and Battalion Commander Yao Ziqing in Baoshan City sent a telegram to the 98th Division Headquarters to report the current situation in Baoshan. The Japanese No. 60 Eighth Regiment had completely surrounded Baoshan, and Baoshan was already in crisis.

The commander of the 98th Division, Xia Chuzhong, sent a message back and said: "Baoshan City has a bearing on the overall situation. The battalion commander should follow Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's will and hold on to the battle even if there is only one soldier left. We have succeeded in becoming benevolent and have no enemy. This battalion should use Baoshan as its destination." , to establish unparalleled miraculous achievements. We should also be fully prepared for street battles. If the city is captured, both the enemy and the enemy should be killed in the city."

The reinforcements Chen Cheng mentioned were that the First Division of the First Army under Hu Zongnan was heading north from Liuhang to support Baoshan. Yao Ziqing should hold on for more time. Even if the battle was down to one soldier, he still had to hold on to Baoshan City and provide reinforcements. It was time for the troops to arrive at Baoshan.

Therefore, Yao Ziqing replied a brief telegram to the 98th Division: "I vow to die with the enemy, stick to the city wall, fight to the end with one breath left. All the officers and soldiers of the professional and battalion are determined to die with the enemy, but the isolated city has no help, and as time passes, It is difficult to support them, both the people and the city are dead, which will not help the overall situation, so we still rush to help to relieve the siege."

Yao Ziqing was determined to do the same, but what he didn't know was that Hu Zongnan's first division actually had no ability to go north to Baoshan.

The First Army commanded by Hu Zongnan belongs to the Central Army and is one of the main forces of the national army that newly arrived near Wusong in September. It has the first regiment and the second regiment of the first brigade under its jurisdiction.The third and fourth regiments of the second brigade.Baldhead had high hopes, but the troops of the First Army belonged to the third phase of the adjustment division and had not yet been reorganized when the Anti-Japanese War broke out.

On September 17, the Sixth Division of the National Army, which had suffered all its casualties, withdrew south to Guangfu to rest and recuperate. The Second Brigade of the First Division of the National Army took over the defense line of the No. 60 Brigade and the [-]th Regiment. However, that morning At around five o'clock, the third brigade of the Japanese No. [-] Eighth Regiment captured the Sitang River Highway Bridge in one fell swoop. The second brigade could only try to blow up the bridge, but the Japanese army was already on guard and the blast failed.

The second brigade's attempt to blast the highway bridge meant that the first division had no intention or ability to immediately restore contact with Baoshan.

At the beginning of the strategic offensive in the Songhu Battle, the national army concentrated near Shanghai consisted of two German weapon divisions, No. 80 Seventh Division and No. 80 Eighth Division.Near Zhabei, there are about 80 Nationalist soldiers including the No. 2 87th Division. Together with the [-]th Division on the north side of Zhabei, Jiangwan Town, and the municipal government area, there are about [-] soldiers. Their strength in Shanghai reaches Thirty thousand people.

The Japanese army in Shanghai included about 11 Shanghai Special Marines (including the Hankou Special Marines).There are approximately 120 members of the Second Wu Town and First Zuozhen Special Marine Corps. There are about two hundred "Izumo" Marines. There are about [-] marines in the No. [-] team, totaling more than [-]. The [-]th team and the [-]st mine team have not yet sent marines to land.

With such a huge disparity in strength, at the beginning of the Songhu Battle, they were not able to penetrate the Japanese defense lines.What's more, if these third adjustment divisions are not yet full, how can they penetrate the defense lines held by several Japanese regiments.

The Japanese No. 18 Regiment on the south side of the First Division also advanced to the Shenjiazhai front line. The First Division and the No. 18 Brigade retreated steadily and completely withdrew from the Wusong Baoshan area.

The Japanese army completely took control of the Wusong area.

The sky in September is like a child's face, crying sometimes and laughing. Heavy raindrops hit the boundary of Wusong. The battles in the past few days have filled the ground with dust, smoke and sand everywhere, and there is a thick layer of rain floating in the air. The smell of gunpowder smoke.

As a heavy rain falls, all the mixed smells disappear, followed by the aroma of earth.

A dilapidated house has not yet collapsed. The courtyard was shattered by Japanese artillery shells. Half of the earthen wall was lifted, leaving only half of the thatch and a few raindrops exposed.

The scholar huddled up in the quilt and had a high fever. Zheng Dayong squatted next to him and built a simple 'stove' with three stones, with a helmet on top and a bonfire burning below.

Xia Yuan put on his raincoat, got some rainwater from the outside, poured it into the helmet, looked at the scholar's condition, and frowned. The battle yesterday was fierce and the Japanese attack was fierce. He couldn't buy him much time at all. He could only go all the way. As the defeated troops retreated all the way to this village, many of the defeated troops of the [-]th Brigade were chaotically concentrated in nearby villages of various sizes, without any organization at all. From time to time, the Japanese army came over with cold artillery fire, rumbling, and rumbling. The sound spread under the crackling rain curtain.

The Wusong area was completely occupied.

When the water was poured into the helmet, it began to boil in a short while. Zheng Dayong took out half a can from his pocket, opened the can with a bayonet, took out the food inside and poured it into the pot. He carefully pinched a corner and scooped out some hot soup. Shake it in the can and rinse it evenly. When the water boils, a fragrance will float out.

"The steel helmet that blocks bullets ends up being used as a pot. Not to mention, it can't block bullets, so it's quite suitable to be used as a pot."

Zheng Dayong laughed, scooped up some soup from an empty can, came to the scholar's side, and said, "Scholar, come and drink some hot soup to warm yourself up." The scholar's hands trembled a little, and he took the hot soup. Zheng Dayong reminded: "It's a bit hot, drink it slowly."

The scholar then drank in small sips.

Xia Yuan sat on a mound with a fallen wall, looking at the world outside in trance.

"Brother Yuan, what are you thinking about? Come and have some soup." Zheng Dayong found a half-broken earthen pot that looked a bit like a gourd, and filled some soup for Xia Yuan.

"You and Xiaoliu drink first, and I'll think about how to deal with the Japanese."

Xia Yuan waved his hand.

"Okay." Zheng Dayong called, "Xiao Liu, come back."

The yard was destroyed by the explosion and the wooden gate fell down. Xiao Liu was wearing a raincoat and leaning inside with a gun in his arms. When he heard the sound of Da Yong behind him, he responded and came to the dilapidated room with the gun in his arms. He took the broken earthen jar that Dayong handed over and drank it in small sips.

Zheng Dayong said: "Xiao Liu, the Japanese devils can't come over for the time being. If they really want to come over, they won't use cannons to shoot one from time to time. There's no need for you to waste that time on reconnaissance. Besides, , there are broken troops around here. When the Japanese devils come, they are more panicked than you, what are you afraid of?"

Xiao Liu said nothing and helped several people keep vigil. Subconsciously, he believed that staying with Lao Lei in the Third Company was tantamount to betraying them. This was an act of atonement.

"Dayong is right. There is no need to keep vigil tonight. Let's rest quietly. The Japanese have been fighting all day, so they also need to rest."

When Xia Yuan spoke, Xiao Liu naturally agreed without saying anything.

After they all drank, Xia Yuan boiled some water again with the bottom of the pot to warm his stomach. He didn't feel full yet, and there wasn't much food left on him. The Japanese army's mattress had long been thrown away, and the food inside Most things are used up.

Several people huddled together and fell asleep peacefully.

In the second half of the night, the rain suddenly became heavier, and the wind was blowing hard. The raindrops blew in through half of the collapsed house, and Zheng Dayong, the scholar and Xiaoliu were so cold that they were shaking. I have long been used to it. When I was at Changjin Lake, the weather was even worse, the environment was even worse, the temperature was so low that the spit turned into ice before it even hit the ground.

This change in the weather did not have a great impact on Xia Yuan, so he covered the scholar with his shawl to keep out the cold.

The pain from the wound kept the scholar awake. He looked at Xia Yuan and twitched the corners of his mouth, "Brother Yuan, you're not asleep yet."

"Sleep, I can't sleep." Xia Yuan looked at him and sighed: "It's a mess outside, and the situation along the Sitang River is probably even worse. I don't worry about putting you in the hospital. It won't be good for Japan. When the Japanese attack, they cannot escape and will leave the wounded behind."

"Brother Yuan, I have burdened you." The scholar felt a little sad.

"Don't say that. If it weren't for you, the Japanese machine gun firepower couldn't be knocked out. How can you say it's a drag?" Xia Yuan waved his hand, feeling a little depressed, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and found a trace of it in the embers of the bonfire. He lit the charcoal, put it to his mouth and took a puff. Looking at the crackling rain outside, his mood sank and sank with the heavy rain.

He is a human, and his mood does not fluctuate, which is strange.

The situation on the Songhu battlefield was much worse than expected. Too many people died. At Wusongkou alone, in just one week from the Japanese landing to the present, the Sixth Division's defense line collapsed and the troops were routed. of the retreat, the [-]th Brigade was just a tiny microcosm of it.

The battle in the direction of Luodian is expected to be more difficult. The time for the Japanese counterattack is getting closer and the real cruelty may be coming.

More than 30 people died on the Songhu battlefield, and corpses were everywhere.

At the beginning of the Battle of Songhu, and even for a period of time after it ended, some people thought that it was a wrong decision to send elite soldiers and generals to attack Shanghai.

The most intuitive basis is the number of casualties in the Songhu Battle. Bald Head assembled 70 elite troops, including his Central Army and warlord troops. The Japanese army had 25 troops, while the Chinese army ultimately suffered 30 casualties, including [-]. Tens of millions of people died directly in battle.

In addition to the huge number of casualties, these people were almost all elite divisions of the Kuomintang army.Among them were Hu Zongnan's First Army, Wang Yaowu's First Division, Li Yutang's Third Division, Li Yannian's Ninth Division, the Sichuan Army's Twentieth Army under Yang Sen, as well as the main force of the Guangxi warlords, and the elite divisions of the Kuomintang army. The heavy damage directly affected the situation of the subsequent Anti-Japanese War.

The casualty rate of Hu Zongnan's direct Central Army was as high as 80.00%. A regiment may only have a few people left in a battle, and a battalion can last up to 10 minutes under the enemy's crazy artillery fire...

During the Battle of Songhu, rivers of blood flowed in Shanghai, and the bodies of martyrs were everywhere. The Kuomintang army almost fought a war of attrition. One group of people fell, and the next group continued to rise.

Let’s look at the situation in Shanghai. First of all, from a strategic point of view at the time, Shanghai’s geographical location was not as good as that of Xuzhou, Wuhan and other places. Because it was only a coastal city and had no hub status, it made little sense to spend so many troops attacking Shanghai.

It would be fine if Shanghai could be defeated quickly, but Shanghai's geographical location determines that it is a city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. In addition, the coastline is too long, and the Japanese navy's naval advantage will be maximized, which will be very detrimental to the Kuomintang army.

After the "December [-]th" Incident in [-], Japanese troops were already stationed in Shanghai. They not only built a military defense base here, but also stockpiled troops and weapons here, ready to cooperate with the air force and navy in operations at any time.

The Battle of Songhu was partly because Bald Head wanted to gain international attention, so that the international community could mediate the war.On the other hand, they wanted to prolong the War of Resistance Against Japan into a protracted war.

Unfortunately, it backfired.

(End of this chapter)