pappabearbooks Chapter 80: The Arrival of Japanese Warplanes and Li Jianghe's Countermeasures
Chapter 80: The Arrival of Japanese Warplanes and Li Jianghe's Countermeasures
On Yuhuatai, Zhu Chi and Xu Dingguo led their troops to block the fierce attack of the Japanese 114th Division from the front.
Both fighters have a conservative fighting style, which makes them well-suited for defensive operations.
The outer perimeter of Yuhuatai changed hands repeatedly, and both men joined the front-line battle, even personally leading troops to charge and fight the Japanese army.
In just one morning, the position was fought over five times, and the Japanese flag on the position was raised and then cut down.
In the direction of Guanghua Gate, Yang Ruifu led his troops to resist the Japanese 9th Division in that direction.
Fighting alongside them were some of the troops from the 87th Division who remained behind.
Although Yang Ruifu had a scholarly air about him and looked like a schoolteacher when he took off his military uniform, he was extremely aggressive when it came to fighting.
The Japanese 9th Division, with its superior numbers, naturally took the initiative to attack the area defended by Yang Ruifu.
Seeing the Japanese troops enter the neighborhood, Yang Ruifu pushed up his glasses; the broken lenses were a remnant of past battles.
"Order all units to prepare for the charge."
"Charge? Aren't the Japanese the ones charging now?"
The guard standing nearby thought he had misheard.
Yang Ruifu sneered:
"What do you know? This is called bluffing. We have to intimidate the Japanese in front of us."
On the other side is the 9th Division. That old Japanese devil, Yoshizumi Ryosuke, has been beaten into a state of fear by us.
If we launch a counter-charge at this point, they will definitely assume that our main force is at Guanghua Gate, and they will then proceed with caution and prudence in their attack.
Otherwise, with the few men we have, we definitely won't last long.
After he finished speaking, he called for artillery support from the rear.
After two rounds of artillery fire, the advancing soldiers of the Japanese 9th Division suddenly heard shouts of battle coming from the smoke ahead.
The next moment, grenades and machine gun bullets came flying at them.
"Brothers, kill them all!!!"
With a roar, Yang Ruifu led the charge.
The soldiers, their eyes also bloodshot, charged into the midst of the Japanese soldiers who hadn't even had a chance to react.
This caught the Japanese army off guard.
What caught them even off guard was that the soldiers launching the counterattack were all carrying submachine guns.
Bayonet fighting?
No, they simply opened fire on the Japanese soldiers with dozens of magazines full of bullets.
Forget Bushido spirit, talk to my 9mm bullet.
Yang Ruifu led his troops in a counter-attack, and this wasn't just a one-time event; he launched three counter-attacks within an hour.
"The enemy launched a counterattack at Guanghua Gate, almost all of them were equipped with automatic weapons such as submachine guns, and they moved very quickly, recapturing three blocks in one hour."
Hiroshi Nakagawa, the chief of staff of the 9th Division, reported the battle report from the front.
"What?"
Yoshizumi Ryosuke was quite surprised. "Are we attacking, or are they attacking? Three city blocks have been lost in an hour. What are the attacking troops doing?!"
Nakagawa Guangze said:
"It's also possible that the enemy's main force is in the direction of Guanghua Gate? Otherwise, how could they launch such a small but fierce attack?"
Or is the enemy planning to break out in this direction?
These words reminded Yoshizumi Ryosuke.
Yes, what if this enemy force is the main force of the enemy?
After all, the 3rd Provisional Regiment had often beaten up their 9th Division before, so it was easy for them to fight.
Yoshizumi Ryosuke was still somewhat uncertain.
"What about other directions? Are there any signs of a counterattack?"
Hiroshi Nakagawa shook his head with considerable certainty:
"Although the fighting was intense in other directions, overall, it was still our army on the offensive and the enemy on the defensive."
These words led Yoshizumi Ryosuke to a wrong conclusion: that the enemy's main force was at Kōkamon.
Otherwise, why would they launch such a reckless counterattack against them?
This, on the contrary, made Yoshizumi Ryosuke start to play it safe and cautiously, not daring to easily commit too many troops to Guanghuamen at once, for fear of being wiped out by the opposing Nationalist army and suffering more losses.
The pressure on the Guanghua Gate area has actually lessened considerably compared to before.
However, they lost many soldiers in the initial fierce counterattack, but later managed to stabilize the situation.
Tani Hisao looked towards the direction of Zhonghua Gate. The fighting in the district was continuing, but the advance was not going smoothly, and many soldiers had even been lost.
"Haven't the air force units arrived yet?"
"I asked Tani Hisao in an icy tone."
"We should be there soon."
As Shimono Kazuho said this, a buzzing sound came from inside.
He pointed to the eastern sky and said:
"Here we are, Division Commander, the air force has finally arrived."
Having air support for the assault troops is naturally more effective than a purely ground attack.
Tani Hisao said viciously:
"After the bombing is over, let the troops at the front continue their fierce attack! I want to see just how tenacious these cockroaches really are."
The battle continued until noon, when Li Jianghe heard the buzzing of Japanese warplanes.
He turned his head and saw dozens of fighter jets.
Leading the way were reconnaissance planes, followed by bombers and fighters.
Outside, anti-aircraft machine guns roared into the sky.
Some Japanese warplanes were shot down, but many more continued to fly rampantly, strafing the ground or dropping bombs.
Japanese air force units dropped incendiary bombs, high-explosive bombs, and even white phosphorus bombs.
The moment the incendiary bomb exploded, flames engulfed the entire block in an instant.
The shockwave from a high-explosive grenade can destroy a building or tear nearby soldiers to pieces the moment it hits the ground.
The white phosphorus bomb exploded in the air, and the specks of white phosphorus, carrying temperatures of over a thousand degrees Celsius, ignited everything flammable that came into contact with them.
When it landed on the soldiers, it instantly burned through their clothes and stuck to their skin, causing them to scream in agony.
Watching the Nationalist soldiers fall one by one in the bombing, while Japanese warplanes continued to circle, dive, bomb, and strafe, Wang Dayong couldn't help but say:
"Commander, how about we have the men retreat a bit? The Japanese air firepower is too intense."
After saying that, he pointed to the air defense position and said:
"Our air defense forces were also suppressed by Japanese firepower."
Li Jianghe looked in the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, the area where the air defense force was located was being strafed and bombed by more than a dozen Japanese fighter planes.
The stream of bullets extending into the air has become intermittent, making it difficult to provide sustained and effective anti-aircraft fire.
The front lines appear to be on the verge of collapse.
Li Jianghe knew that they had to hold on to this point, otherwise the Japanese army would continue to shrink their fighting space, and they couldn't possibly retreat to the Yangtze River to fight the Japanese.
"Dayong, take the reserve team over there."
Li Jianghe looked at Wang Dayong and said.
"Take the reserve force with you? This..."
Wang Dayong knew that leading the reserve team into the bombing zone at this time would be suicide.
But Li Jianghe's orders were extremely firm.
"Obey orders. Once you're in the streets, tell Lin Yongzhi to have the men charge forward! Understand?"
"Move forward together? This..."
As Wang Dayong spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly:
"My goodness, Commander, your brain is amazing! How come I didn't think of that?"