SWDnovel Chapter 73 Fierce Battles on Multiple Fronts: The Japanese Army's General Offensive on Nanjing
Chapter 73 Fierce Battles on Multiple Fronts: The Japanese Army's General Offensive on Nanjing
Looking at the disheveled Japanese soldiers returning, Tani Hisao's face was also very grim.
"The artillery barrage, with the air force dropping a large number of incendiary bombs on that area, I want to see if they are as tenacious as cockroaches."
"Itsuki Tani said with an icy gaze."
After defeating the Japanese army, the soldiers who had gathered back saw the Japanese corpses scattered all over the ground and couldn't help but raise their arms and shout.
What surprised them most was the artillery bombardment they had just received.
The fact that they still had so many artillery pieces surprised every soldier.
After all, the defeat in the Battle of Shanghai resulted in the abandonment of the vast majority of artillery.
When they arrived in Nanjing, the few cannons they had cobbled together were almost gone, and they couldn't even find enough shells. By the time the main force retreated towards Yijiang Gate, even these cannons had disappeared.
As it turns out, the Third Provisional Regiment somehow managed to acquire so many artillery pieces.
Among them are even quite a few large-caliber howitzers.
These veterans were well aware of the immense role that artillery played on the battlefield.
With artillery support, we felt more confident when fighting the Japanese.
Just as they were cheering, an order came from Li Jianghe's side.
"Quickly find a place to hide, the Japanese are about to shell us."
As soon as he finished speaking, a whooshing sound came.
The Japanese artillery barrage came down again.
In the direction of Zhongshan Gate, the area not far from the city gate was already littered with corpses.
Some were from the Nationalist Army, and some were from the Japanese Army.
Long Wenzhang was covered in blood; he had just led his troops in a fierce battle against the Japanese army that had stormed into the city.
The two Japanese companies weren't many in number, but they did have tanks and armored vehicles.
Long Wenzhang brought mostly infantry; there were no Panzerfaust 60s or anti-tank guns. The only way to deal with the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles was to get close and use cluster grenades to destroy them.
The soldiers of the Central Training Corps, their eyes bloodshot with rage, joined forces with Long Wenzhang's troops to drive the Japanese army back to Zhongshan Gate.
As for the city walls, they had no weapons to breach them, so they couldn't take them down no matter what.
The organization launched three assaults, all of which were repelled by the Japanese army, forcing them to retreat to a few blocks behind the city.
The good news is that they have taken control of these blocks, and the soldiers of the Central Training Corps have been reorganized by Long Wenzhang.
"No, this can't go on. Er Gou, go find the regimental commander right now and have him transfer at least 5 anti-tank gun squads and 5 rocket launcher squads."
Long Wenzhang said to the guard standing beside him.
"Yes, I'll go right now."
As Er Gou spoke, he started running wildly.
At this moment, Long Wenzhang glanced again at the soldiers of the Central Training Corps who were clearing away corpses and building barricades, and his confidence soared.
In any case, with these soldiers, there is still hope to stop the enemy advancing towards Zhongshan Gate.
The Central Training Corps soldiers he intercepted actually numbered just over a thousand; the rest had almost all fled.
But for Long Wenzhang, that was enough.
If we could get some more anti-tank firepower from the regimental commander, we could win this battle.
The main force of Li Jianghe's troops was now enveloped in a barrage of artillery fire.
The Japanese artillery counterattack was incredibly fast, as if they had been prepared for it all along.
Even though they quickly sought cover or withdrew directly, many of them were still killed or wounded by Japanese artillery fire.
The Japanese had too many artillery pieces, and they were densely packed together. Among them were super-large caliber howitzers, whose power was unimaginable.
Even some basements collapsed completely under the bombardment of these large-caliber, super-heavy howitzers, burying the soldiers alive underneath.
The last attack on the Japanese army was quite effective; of the two companies with nearly four hundred men, they killed almost three hundred.
However, they also consumed a lot of supplies and ammunition, and suffered many casualties under the Japanese artillery fire.
Li Jianghe frowned, looking towards Guanghua Gate and Zhongshan Gate.
Unlike Zhonghua Gate, Zhongshan Gate and Guanghua Gate had already been breached by the Japanese army.
In the direction of Guanghua Gate, Li Jianghe has already dispatched reinforcements to build barricades in the surrounding area, which should not be a problem in the short term.
However, Li Jianghe was quite worried about the Zhongshan Gate direction.
He only dispatched Long Wenzhang's three hundred men to gather the routed soldiers and organize a defense.
But until now, there has been no news from the other side, and Li Jianghe can't help but feel worried.
This "dead, dead, dead" thing, could it really be "dead, dead"?
Just as he was wondering, the bodyguard Er Gou ran over and said:
"Commander, Commander, the battalion commander sent me to request reinforcements."
Hearing Er Gou's words, Li Jianghe's anxiety subsided temporarily.
"What's the current situation at Zhongshan Gate?"
Er Gou then recounted the general situation in the direction of Zhongshan Gate to Li Jianghe.
"In short, there were considerable casualties, but we managed to hold off the Japanese attack. Now we are short of anti-tank weapons."
Er Gou spread his hands, his thin face showing a hint of worry.
Li Jianghe chuckled and said:
"It seems that Long Wenzhang has done a good job. I will dispatch troops now. You can pass on a message to Long Wenzhang, telling him to hold the Zhongshan Gate line for three days."
We may not retake the city gates, but we must keep the Japanese troops outside the city and prevent them from advancing towards Yijiang Gate.
Zhongshan Gate is closer to Yijiang Gate than Zhonghua Gate.
If the Japanese army breaks through in that direction, it will not only directly threaten the Xiaguan Wharf, but more importantly, it will directly cut off the retreat route of Li Jianghe's main force.
After saying that, he began to call for reinforcements.
Long Wenzhang didn't ask for much; he mainly wanted anti-tank firepower. However, Li Jianghe knew that the Japanese 16th Division, which was attacking from the direction of Zhongshan Gate, was also an elite Japanese force.
Therefore, in addition to anti-tank firepower, Li Jianghe also dispatched an additional 20 infantry squads, 5 heavy machine gun squads, and 5 engineer squads to provide support.
Another option is to send several artillery scouts over there, who can call for artillery support from the artillery battalion at any time.
Just as reinforcements were being transferred there, the 6th Division launched another attack from the front.
Following the dissipating smoke, Li Jianghe discovered that the city walls in the direction of Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate had collapsed even more, and the area where they had fought before had become a wasteland, with no intact buildings to be found.
"Move into position!!!"
Li Jianghe roared, and the soldiers charged back into the ruins of the neighborhood.
Most of the barricades that had been built earlier were destroyed by Japanese artillery fire. The repeated bombardment of thousands of shells was enough to bombard every inch of this land.
Upon entering the neighborhood, Li Jianghe saw many bodies of Nationalist soldiers killed by artillery fire.
They were soldiers who hadn't had time to evacuate during the previous shelling and were left behind in the streets when they were blown to pieces by Japanese artillery fire.
It's easy to imagine how much artillery fire the 6th Division has concentrated in order to break through their defenses.