pappabearbooks Chapter 195 The Battle of Fujinshan Begins, the 71st Army's Plans
Chapter 195 The Battle of Fujinshan Begins, the 71st Army's Plans
"Thank you for your trust, Commander Sun!"
Li Jianghe suddenly stood up, gave Sun Lianzhong a very solemn military salute, and his voice was full of determination.
As the meeting ended and Li Jianghe stepped out of the operations room, he was stopped by a voice behind him.
The person who called out to him was Song Xilian.
"Brother Jianghe, my unit is stationed at Fujinshan in this battle. If your unit needs cooperation in the counterattack against the Japanese invaders, just send a message and my 71st Army will definitely provide full support."
Song Xilian stepped forward quickly, his tone solemn and without a trace of falsehood.
"Good, with Brother Song's words, I can rest assured."
Li Jianghe smiled and agreed. What he was most worried about was encountering someone like Tang Enbo who would refuse to help someone in distress and miss a crucial opportunity in the battle, but Song Xilian's promise completely put his worries at ease.
The two didn't say anything more, just saluted each other, then got into their cars and returned to their respective military bases.
Meanwhile, Chi Fengcheng led the 31st Division, breaking camp overnight and heading north to reinforce Gushi County. In the darkness, the marching column stretched endlessly, the sound of footsteps and wheels breaking the silence of the night. Everyone knew that a fierce battle was imminent.
Three days after the meeting ended, on the west bank of the Shi River, in Chenlinzi Town.
The Japanese army's river crossing operation officially began amidst deafening artillery fire.
The Japanese army concentrated hundreds of artillery pieces of various calibers and launched an indiscriminate and intensive bombardment of the town on the opposite bank of the river.
In just half an hour, shells rained down, turning the town into a charred ruin. The broken walls and rubble collapsed continuously amidst the shelling, and flames and thick smoke shot straight into the sky.
Commander of the Japanese 13th Division, Tatehei Ogisu, stood side by side with Commander of the Imperial Guard Division, Sadako Iida, behind the artillery position, holding high-powered binoculars and gazing at the area covered by artillery fire in the distance.
Finally, the continuous bombardment stopped.
They saw Japanese soldiers, who had already gathered on the riverbank, jump onto the makeshift rafts and assault boats they had prepared in advance, and charge toward the opposite bank while shouting battle cries.
To everyone's surprise, the vanguard charged all the way to the other side of the river without encountering any resistance, and didn't even see a trace of the enemy.
The enemy's complete abandonment of the defense of the west bank of the Shi River surprised both Ogisu Rikihei and Iida Sadako.
Iida Sadaharu was thin, with a hooked nose and sharp, piercing eyes; he exuded an aggressive aura. He lowered his binoculars and said in a deep voice:
"It seems these Chinese people are well aware that defending the riverbank is not the best strategy, and they have all retreated into Fujin Mountain."
Beside him stood Ogisu Ritsuhei, his skin dark, his triangular eyes filled with ferocity, and a disdainful sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.
"The 71st Army? It's nothing but a bunch of defeated soldiers who escaped from Nanjing. I bet they've hidden in Fujin Mountain and don't even have the courage to fight my Imperial Army head-on."
Unlike him, Iida Sadaharu did not underestimate his opponent and still solemnly reminded him:
"The commander on the other side, Song Xilian, was one of the last Chinese officers to defend Nanjing. The troops he led were by no means weak or vulnerable."
We must capture Fujin Mountain first; otherwise, if our army continues its westward advance, our rear will inevitably be subjected to constant harassment.
As he spoke, he looked up at the distant, rolling Fujin Mountains covered in lush vegetation.
Mountain warfare was not something the Japanese army was good at.
Even so, with an absolute advantage in troop strength, firepower, and troop quality, Iida Sadako remained confident that taking the mountain was only a matter of time.
That afternoon, a burst of gunfire suddenly shattered the silence of the mountains and forests.
The vanguard of the Japanese army sent to Fujinshan finally clashed head-on with the garrison of Song Xilian's 71st Army stationed there.
This vanguard of the Japanese army was arrogant and overbearing from top to bottom.
In their eyes, the Nationalist army opposite them was nothing more than a defeated force fleeing from Nanjing, and was not worth worrying about at all.
But once the fighting started, these Japanese soldiers began to realize that something was amiss.
The 71st Army did not adopt a conservative defensive strategy of holding out to the death.
Song Xilian ordered the forward defense troops to fight and retreat simultaneously, deliberately creating the illusion for the Japanese army that the defenders were afraid of fighting and were easily defeated.
The Japanese vanguard had never taken this Nationalist army seriously, and now, seeing the defenders retreating, they were even more eager to make a name for themselves and launched a fierce attack all the way forward.
In just one night, they captured several forward defensive positions and advanced a full five kilometers into the interior of Fujin Mountain.
Hundreds of kilometers away, the headquarters of the Japanese Second Army was brightly lit.
Nishio Toshizo stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the frontline battle report that Okabe Naosaburo had just compiled, his face full of smug satisfaction.
"Hahaha!"
He laughed heartily, pointing to the mark of Fujinshan on the map, "Sure enough, the real trouble is never the Nationalist army, but Li Jianghe's Third Column."
"Even the German-equipped division of the Central Army, which caused us so much trouble back then, is now being routed by a single infantry regiment of ours, proving utterly vulnerable!"
Naosaburo Okabe, standing beside him, had his eyes fixed on the topographical map of Mount Fujin, his brows furrowed and his face still bearing an inescapable air of seriousness.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I have a feeling that the advance in the Fujinshan direction is going too smoothly."
He spoke in a deep voice, "The enemy had no proper defenses along the Shi River before, and now the troops engaged in direct combat have been routed. This is extremely abnormal and we must be on guard."
But Nishio Toshizo snorted coldly, his face full of undisguised arrogance.
"Hmph, back in the Battle of Xuzhou, if it weren't for Li Jianghe's Third Column intervening, the 10th and 20th Divisions wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat."
"This 71st Army is no longer the German-trained division it once was. It's made up of newly recruited soldiers, many of whom have probably received less than six months of training. What's there to worry about?"
At this point, he raised his hand and slammed it heavily on the table, his tone suddenly shifting to seriousness:
"What we really need to worry about is where Li Jianghe's troops are hiding. Have we got any news from the air force reconnaissance?"
Naosaburo Okabe shook his head, his expression growing increasingly grave.
"No.
Over the past few days, we have dispatched over a hundred reconnaissance aircraft to conduct repeated, comprehensive reconnaissance missions along the Fujinshan, Gushi, and Huangchuan lines, but have found nothing.
Nishio Toshizo's gaze instantly darkened as he stared at the large area of southern Henan on the map, issuing his order word by word:
"Immediately dispatch more reconnaissance aircraft and expand the search area. We must find Li Jianghe's third column!"
"Such a large mechanized force couldn't possibly hide on the plains; they must have gone into the mountains!"