The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 244 The decisive battle between elites

Just as the Jinling garrison relied on the fortifications near Xiaguan to stabilize its position, the Japanese Central China Front army with exposed fangs also began to pounce on Jinling City and its vicinity.

After the Jinling garrison completely collapsed and retreated, the Japanese troops occupied Zhongshan Gate and Taiping Gate in the east of Jinling, Guanghua Gate, Tongji Gate, Wuding Gate in the southeast, Zhonghua Gate and Yuhua Gate in the south, and the Gate in the west. Shuixi Gate, Hanxi Gate and other city gates successively ended their attacks on the gates and walls of Jinling, and instead began pursuit operations against the Chinese army and mopping up operations within Jinling City.

On the front line of Zhongshan Gate, the 20th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese 16th Division captured the Zhongshan Gate without firing a shot after the Jinling defenders retreated. The arrogant Japanese 20th Infantry Regiment Captain Nobuaki Ohno In order to promote his so-called martial virtue, he ordered his subordinates to write the words "Occupied by Ohno troops" on the gate of Zhongshan Gate.

This arrogant Japanese infantry captain had completely forgotten how embarrassed he was when he was beaten violently by the 66th Army and He Wei in Tangshan.

Another old opponent who had fought against the He Wei Special Agent Battalion, the 33rd Infantry Regiment of the 16th Division, had healed its scars and forgotten the pain. It followed the 20th Regiment and occupied the Observatory Heights in Jinling. Similar to Taipingmen, after occupying Taipingmen, the 33rd Regiment also put on a showy and mighty posture, seeming to want to cover up its shameful record of being wiped out by He Wei of an infantry brigade outside Tangshan.

Another old rival of He Wei's, the Ninth Division was also very active. Its 35th Infantry Regiment broke into the city through the gap in the wall on the left side of Zhongshan Gate, and the 36th Infantry Regiment occupied it. Guanghua Gate was swept away, and Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate were swept away at the same time.

Of course, after occupying the city gates and walls, the Ninth Division also held various celebration activities to cover up its shame. After all, although the Ninth Division was not as powerful as the 20th Regiment and the 33rd Regiment of the 16th Division, The regiment suffered huge battle losses,

But they created a bigger trap, allowing He Wei to use a black tiger to take out the heart, a monkey to steal a peach, and successfully executed the beheading tactic on the commander of the Songhu Expeditionary Army, who was also the emperor's uncle. In terms of culpability, the 9th Division's losses were much greater than the 16th Division's battle losses.

The 114th Division occupied Yuhuamen at the same time.

While the Japanese army occupied the city walls around Jinling, they also sent a large number of troops into the city to pursue them, and outflanking troops launched outflank attacks from the east and west sides of Jinling City to Xiaguan, in an attempt to cut off the retreat route of the Jinling garrison across the Yangtze River and achieve a complete victory. The goal of annihilating the Jinling garrison.

In order to occupy Xiaguan, intercept the retreat route of the Chinese army across the Yangtze River, and achieve the strategic goal of encircling and annihilating the Chinese army in Nanjing.

The Sixth Division was the first to launch an attack near Xiaguan. The troops it sent to advance toward Xiaguan were the third brigade of the 45th Infantry Regiment under it. Shoufu, directly ordered him to attack from the city.

The consequence was that he was beaten violently by He Wei in the city. The entire third infantry brigade, that is, the advancing troops, were completely eaten up. Before they could advance, they were sent to the west.

The other two troops that launched an assault near Xiaguan were the 16th Division and the Kunisaki Detachment.

Among them, the 38th Division removed its subordinate 8th Infantry Regiment and attached some tanks and artillery to form an elite detachment. It advanced aggressively into Xianguan. This force consisted of the 1th Regiment, It consists of the 33th Light Armored Vehicle Squadron, the 1st Field Artillery Battalion and the st Battalion of the rd Regiment. The detachment leader is Major General Sasaki Toichi, the brigade commander of the th Infantry Brigade.

The Kunisaki detachment from the 41th Division of the Japanese Army consists of the 3st Infantry Regiment, the 2rd Independence Mountain Artillery Regiment (under the 9nd Battalion), cavalry, engineers, and heavy equipment units. Kunisaki, commander of the th Infantry Brigade, is appointed Captain of the detachment, this detachment was the detachment that was urgently transferred to Songhu by the Fifth Division during the intense battle of Songhu. This detachment also started taking action shortly after the Sasaki detachment took action. After crossing the river along the north bank of the Yangtze River, it began to attack Xiaguan. .

Generally speaking, after the initial large-scale melee, the Jinling garrison had just established a foothold near Xiaguan, and two detachments of the Japanese army attacked near Xiaguan. The first-level establishment of the Japanese detachment was not its field force. Regular formation within the order of battle.

The detachment is not a regular establishment in the Japanese Army, but is temporarily organized to perform specific combat tasks. Generally, an infantry brigade or several infantry regiments are drawn from the division, and then assigned a certain number of artillery, cavalry, engineers, and baggage An independent combat unit composed of soldiers and other special arms units, it is a temporary combat unit. Generally, after the battle is over, this detachment will be disbanded immediately, and the subordinate units will return to their original combat organizations.

From a organizational point of view, the two Japanese troops that took the lead in attacking Xiaguan were two infantry regiments. Compared with the Jinling garrison of more than a dozen divisions near Xiaguan, they seemed to be nothing. However, considering the entire Japanese army, With the superior sea, air and land firepower in all directions, as well as the dilapidated status of the Jinling garrison, the strength of these two detachments cannot be underestimated.

In short, on December 16, in the chaotic state of this day, the Jinling garrison stabilized, and although the Japanese army began to attack, they had not yet fully attacked.

On this day, after dark, neither side took any further large-scale operations and got some rest. The Japanese army began to sweep the Chinese troops in the city and prepare for a surprise attack in the direction of Xiaguan. The Jinling garrison also After retreating I had a peaceful sleep.

Tens of thousands of refugees and more than 2,000 wounded soldiers from various units, including dozens of wounded soldiers from the special agent camp, were also sent across the river overnight.

This night was very peaceful for both sides, but when the sun came on the 17th, the real bloody battle began.

On the morning of the 17th, Xiaguan defensive circle, the core central position.

The officers and soldiers of the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps were enjoying their first breakfast after retreating to Xiaguan. The tangy aroma of meat permeated the entire position. They were in the newly constructed, solid concrete, cement and civil engineering mixed fortification position. and in the bunker, this elite force, which used to be known as the standard of the Chinese Army, finally recovered a certain amount of vitality after a night of rest.

At the front of the Xiaguan defense circle, the most important and core position, the defense was completed and a firm foothold was established.

The Teaching Corps was the main force with the best equipment, the strongest strength, and sufficient number of soldiers in the Battle of Jinling. Before the Battle of Jinling, the department had three infantry regiments and a group of directly subordinate troops. It was expanded to three brigades before the Battle of Jinling. The ninth regiment, and all its directly affiliated battalion-level units were also expanded into regiments.

Before the Battle of Jinling, the teaching corps had three infantry brigades under its jurisdiction. The first brigade had the first and second infantry regiments, the second brigade had the third and sixth infantry regiments, and the third brigade had the fourth infantry regiment. and the fifth regiment. The directly affiliated units include: artillery battalion, cavalry battalion, engineer battalion, communications battalion, sergeant battalion, special agent battalion, and transportation battalion. These directly affiliated battalion-level units have been renamed regiments. However, due to insufficient troop recruitment, In fact, it is still a battalion-level unit.

In such a hasty and huge expansion, the Teaching Corps added more than 10,000 recruits, and among its six newly established infantry regiments, the 7th, 8th and 9th Infantry Regiments were trained in Hunan Province.

Therefore, only three newly established infantry regiments stayed in Jinling to participate in the war. Among the six main infantry regiments left in Jinling, only the equipment and organization of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Infantry Regiments were derived from the three old infantry regiments before the war. The pre-war all-German equipment establishment is still largely maintained.

Each of these three regiments has sixteen companies, that is, each regiment has three infantry battalions, each battalion has three infantry companies, one heavy machine gun company, and one 82nd mortar platoon. The infantry company and the heavy machine gun company are numbered from the 1st to the 12th company respectively.

The 13th company of each regiment is a small artillery company of 20mm Sulotong machine guns, the 14th company is an ieig 75mm infantry howitzer company, and the 15th company is a pak 37mm tank defense artillery company. The 16th Company is a communications company, and the company's designation system completely adopts the German Army Field Force designation system.

The chief officers at all levels of this unit are Captain Gui Yongqing, Chief of Staff Qiu Qingquan, Deputy Captain and First Brigade Commander Zhou Zhenqiang, and they are responsible for the first and second regiments, and Qin Shiquan, the commander of the first regiment. Xie Chengrui, commander of the second regiment; Hu Qiru, commander of the second brigade, has jurisdiction over the third and sixth regiments; Li Xikai, commander of the third regiment; Liu Zishu, commander of the sixth regiment; Ma Weilong, acting commander of the third brigade, has jurisdiction over the fourth and fifth regiments. The commander of the fourth regiment is Sui Youlin, and the commander of the fifth regiment is Ma Weilong. The total strength of the entire regiment is close to 30,000.

After the brutal fighting in the Battle of Songhu, the expansion before the Jinling Defense War, and the bloody battle in Jinling City, the teaching corps also suffered heavy losses, but there were many people in the group. No matter how much the teaching corps suffered, the Jinling garrison was in dire straits. The troops can still be regarded as elite.

Therefore, in the Xiaguan defense circle proposed by He Wei, the teaching corps assumed the defense task of the front and core positions.

In the thin mist, Qiu Qingquan, the major general and chief of staff of the corps, who took over the command from the seriously injured captain of the teaching corps, stood on the outside of the position next to the command post, holding a telescope high and looking around in front of the position. Guns were fired from time to time in the city. The sound of artillery and the muffled explosions of shells made him quite uneasy.

At this time, a staff officer walked up to Qiu Qingquan and reported: "Take a seat, dinner is ready."

Qiu Qingquan put down his telescope, jumped into the trench with his riding boots, and said, "Have all the troops at the front been fed? Are the supplies still sufficient?"

The staff officer replied: "It's quite sufficient. Although each regiment was in chaos when they retreated, they brought a lot of things that they should bring. The supply battalion brought out more than half of the ammunition from the headquarters warehouse, as well as the ammunition from before the war started. We also brought out a lot of livestock and cigarettes and biscuits bought from Anhui. This was also thanks to the gendarmerie. When the supply camp was withdrawn, it almost went into chaos. Fortunately, the gendarmerie helped to pull those things down. The ammunition they brought was enough for us. Fight for another month.”

"The 1, 3, and 5 regiments at the front have all had their meals."

Qiu Qingquan nodded, walked all the way through the trenches, and entered the command post. The orderly soldiers had already placed food on the dining table, and stewed pork and several hot cans were steaming.

A bowl of rice was also placed aside. The teaching corps had been stationed in Jinling for many years before the war and had sufficient supplies. Even after a chaotic retreat, it could still ensure sufficient meat for the troops.

Qiu Qingquan sat down and was about to start, when he seemed to think of something again and said to the staff: "Send someone to send two boxes of Platinum Dragon cigarettes to that city defense spy camp, send two boxes of cans and two boxes of biscuits, and get two bottles of Foreign wine, tell them Battalion Commander He, and say that I, Qiu Qingquan, thanked them for controlling the situation last night."

"Yes!"

After the staff left, an officer with the rank of major general also walked into the command post, walked to Qiu Qingquan's side, and said: "We should really thank Battalion Commander He of that special agent battalion. Without them, yesterday's retreat would have been difficult. Something serious has happened, and the situation of the troops is simply unimaginable."

"What Brother Zhenqiang said is absolutely true. This retreat was a complete mess."

Qiu Qingquan said.

That officer was Major General Zhou Zhenqiang, the current deputy captain of the teaching corps and commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade. Zhou Zhenqiang lit a cigarette and nodded helplessly. "Alas, the Tang commander of the garrison headquarters, Mr. Tang, said before the battle that he would fight the enemy to death, but in the end he retreated before the battle and left the troops alone. It is really inconsistent with the heroic remarks he made before the battle."

Qiu Qingquan snorted softly upon hearing this, with a hint of disdain on his face, and whispered in English: "stank tones, fun of foolish talk."

Zhou Zhenqiang asked: "Brother Yu'an, what did you say?"

Qiu Qingquan smiled and said, "I say Mr. Tang, I wish you all the best!"

After saying these words, Qiu Qingquan began to deal with the food on the table.

In the forward position of the teaching corps, which is also the forefront position of the Xiaguan defense circle, the first, third and fifth regiments of the three strongest infantry of the teaching corps are waiting in the position.

The sentries of the teaching corps, wearing German-made steel helmets and holding Mauser 1924 standard rifles, stared nervously at the sentries in front of the position.

In the position, while on alert, each regiment also began a day of daily combat training to teach the regiment's infantrymen. Although the first, third and fifth regiments were born out of the three old infantry regiments before the war, they have gone through bloody battles and the troops have become more capable. A large number of new recruits were also added. During the intervals of alert, in order to quickly improve the combat effectiveness of these recruits, each company started their education and training tasks while on alert. Various commands and artillery drills were heard one after another.

In the second-line positions at the rear, three infantry regiments composed mostly of new recruits were hidden in the second-line trench positions and concealed parts, and the only eight remaining 75mm Bofors mountain guns of the artillery battalion directly under the teaching corps were also there. The three infantry regiments occupied the shooting position in the rear, and the artillery officers watched the front of the formation in the mist through the artillery mirror.

Just as the teaching corps was preparing for its formation, on the other side in the mist, a huge Japanese marching column slowly showed its fangs. Through the early morning fog, it approached the Xiaguan defensive circle. The first to bear the brunt was It is the defensive position of the teaching corps.

After a night of crossing the river and marching, the Kunisaki detachment, which was within the Songhu detachment but had not yet participated in the battle, had quietly advanced along the wall of Jinling City and outflanked Xiaguan. Under the order of the detachment leader, Major General Noboru Kunisaki, Next, the 41st Infantry Regiment under the Kunisaki Detachment began to search and advance towards the Xiangoseki defense circle.

Coordinating the advance of the 1873st Infantry Regiment was a detachment from the th Cavalry Regiment. The main force of the Kunizaki Detachment came from the th Division of the Japanese Army. The predecessor of this division was the Sixth Army established in . One of the towns - Hiroshima town.

Beginning in 1888, Hiroshima Town was reorganized into the 5th Division, with Hiroshima as the division's jurisdiction - and the soldiers of the 5th Division were all from Hiroshima.

The 5th Division is an old unit that has invaded China many times. It captured Pyongyang and occupied Liaodong as early as the Sino-Japanese War. After that, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China and the Russo-Japanese War, almost never losing ground. It was an emergency force in the war of aggression against China. pioneer.

Of course, it is precisely because of its rich combat experience that it is nicknamed the Steel Army. The core of this Kunizaki detachment is the 41st Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division and a member of the 5th Cavalry Regiment. A squadron, a baggage corps, a communications corps, and a health corps each, as well as the reinforced third independent mountain artillery regiment.

Since the beginning of the Battle of Jinling, this detachment has not participated in a battle and is still fully equipped. Although the third independent mountain artillery regiment it is attached to is missing a brigade, the two mountain artillery brigades it currently has are equipped with They are all the latest Type 94 75mm mountain guns of the Japanese Army.

Its combat strength cannot be said to be weak.

Now, this Japanese detachment from the Steel Army, sharpening their knives in the mist, was searching in the direction of Xiaguan.

In the mist, a cavalry squad from the 5th Cavalry Regiment, under the cover of a squadron from the 41st Infantry Regiment, slowly approached the position of the teaching corps.

At this time, neither the Kunisaki detachment search force, nicknamed the Japanese Steel Army, nor the training corps of Chang Kaishen's Iron Guard, known as the benchmark of the Chinese Army, were completely unaware of the other's existence under the cover of mist. The two forces were about to A head-on collision begins.

In the mist, five hundred meters away from the main position of the teaching corps, the combat outpost of the first infantry regiment of the teaching corps was nervously observing the sentry cordon. In the temporary foxhole, a soldier holding a telescope The sergeant platoon held up his telescope and looked around.

Next to him, a sergeant squad leader and a senior soldier were guarding a Czech light machine gun. Behind him were three ammunition soldiers carrying bullets. Eight riflemen were led by a corporal deputy squad leader. Sentries were posted all around.

This is a standard fourteen-man infantry squad that teaches the regiment. Under the leadership of a platoon attached, it serves as a combat outpost.

Among them, a newly enlisted private was standing upright, wearing brand new rubber shoes, with a brand new cowhide 79 bullet box hanging on the belt around his waist, holding a wet imported short The Mauser M1924 rifle with its bayonet stood on guard.

Suddenly, a crackling sound came from the fog. The private's eyes passed through the fog in front of him, and he saw that in the distance of the mist, there seemed to be bursts of flashes under the sunlight, and the crackling sound came from the fog. The sound of chirping is getting closer and closer.

"Squad leader, there's someone there. There seems to be someone in front of you. There's someone there."

The private was horrified and stammered loudly to the sergeant squad leader beside him.

"Get down quickly!"

The sergeant squad leader shouted and pulled the private off. The deputy corporal squad leader and several riflemen also lay down and crawled on the spot. At the same time, there were bursts of crisp sounds in the air, and several bullets passed through the fog, tearing apart It broke through the air and hit several bullets accurately hitting the foxhole near the sentry.

Although several sentries were not hit, patches of loose soil were knocked out in front of the foxholes.

Whoosh - a strong wind came out, blowing away the little fog. When the fog was swept away by the strong wind, several sentries raised their heads and saw dozens of people riding tall horses 200 meters away, waving. At the same time, dozens of Japanese cavalry in the distance looked dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of Chinese soldiers. This group of Japanese cavalry was the advancing search force of the Kunisaki detachment.

In this way, the two elite troops of the Japanese and Chinese troops collided together in such an unexpected way.

The Japanese cavalry who were searching and advancing did not expect, nor did the sentry of the teaching corps guarding here, that the enemy would suddenly appear in front of them.

"Fight quickly!"

"Attack, cavalry attack!"

Both sides issued combat attack orders almost at the same time. The sergeant platoon of the teaching corps and the captain of the Japanese cavalry squad issued the command at the same time. Dozens of Japanese cavalry either raised their rifles or drew their sabers, shouting and quickly launched an attack, teaching The officers and soldiers of the corps reacted very quickly. Following the order from the platoon, the Czech light machine gun held by a superior machine gunner opened fire first.

da da da da da

A string of bullets was fired and swept towards the Japanese cavalry. The sound of seventy-nine bullets completely broke the silence of the early morning. Because the distance between the two sides was too far, the officers and soldiers of the teaching corps who fired first with their light machine guns still took the lead. A series of machine guns The bullets knocked down two or three Japanese cavalry, and then the Mauser rifles in the hands of the riflemen also opened fire.

砰

bang bang

bang bang

bang bang

Amidst the muffled gunfire, Japanese cavalry continued to be knocked to the ground. However, the firepower of one squad could not completely stop dozens of Japanese cavalry from advancing. Although Japanese cavalry continued to be knocked down, the Japanese cavalry's The impact team was still advancing steadily, and some Japanese troops also began to use carbines to fight back at the advanced outposts of the teaching corps.

"Set a flare!"

The sergeant platoon of the teaching corps commanding the sentry shouted at the superior bugler next to him. Then, the bugler took out his flare gun and pulled the trigger toward the sky. A fiery red flare shot straight into the sky. , and then, urgent warning sirens also sounded.

In the main position of the teaching corps, Qiu Qingquan saw the red flare falling from mid-air. He immediately rushed to the phone, picked up the microphone and shouted: "Brigade preparations for battle!"

　By the way, I discovered that there was a bug in the previous plot. The protagonist had already wiped out a Japanese infantry brigade in the battle of Tangshan. For details, see Chapter 194.

　　Therefore, in Chapter 242, I wrote that the protagonist set a record of annihilating a Japanese army brigade, which is a bug, because the infantry brigade destroyed in the city was the second infantry brigade that the protagonist killed.

　　The relevant content has been modified. I am confused because of the Chinese New Year. I would like to say to the readers, I am sorry!

　　

　

(End of this chapter)