Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 156: Songjiang Defense War (Today's 4 chapters, 1 words, please bookmark and read)
Soon after Chongque fell behind, Shicheng also fell, and most of the defenders died, leaving only 28 people to break through.
When the Japanese attacked Tagang, 12 salt policemen fought back and 11 of them died heroically.
The Japanese attacked Haiyue Temple. The defending company commander used heavy machine guns to sweep the enemy, killing and wounding a large number of enemies. The gun barrels heated up and exploded, and then they retreated north to Zhangyan. Only more than 20 people were left in the company.

The Shewangtang Fort was the only one that could be used normally. The defenders risked their lives to fire a few shells, killing and wounding dozens of devils before being covered by the ship's shells and the entire army was wiped out...

The Japanese easily broke through the defensive points one by one, not because the defenders did not fight bravely enough, but because they had too few troops. There was only the sea but no defense. There were only a few hundred defenders along the more than ten-kilometer coastal defense line, and they all died in the end.

At 6:30, the Japanese army landed on all fronts and then divided its forces to attack in depth:

All the way through Caojing, Tinglin and Yexie, across the Huangpu River to Minhang, and directly to Xujiahui in the city;
It passed through Zhangyan, Songyin, crossed Mishi Ferry, and approached Songjiang;
All the way through Quangongting, they rushed to Zhujing, Songjiang, and went straight to Qibao and Hongqiao, and the entire Jinshan area fell.

After landing in Jinshan, the Japanese army went on a killing spree, killing anyone they saw. The people in the villages along the way were slaughtered, especially the 6th and 16th Beast Divisions. Almost no civilian could escape alive from their guns. Thousands of people were massacred in Jinshanwei on that day alone.

The 18th Division was not much better. The three beasts broke into the homes of the Chinese people. They killed anyone they saw, robbed anything they saw, burned houses, and insulted women. After insulting them, they killed them to cover up their crimes, and even burned their bodies to destroy the evidence. The Chinese nation was bleeding...

In Songjiang City, the 67th Army, which was ordered to take charge in times of crisis, marched into the city overnight. They arrived one day earlier than in another time and space. It was unknown whether it was due to the telegram from Lin E.

Songjiang Security Commander Wang Gongyu and 43rd Army Commander Guo Rudong excitedly went out of the city to greet them. Commander Wang even shook Lieutenant General Wu Keren's hand and said:
"Commander Wu, it's great that you're here. Commander Guo and I were very worried when we learned that the Japanese army had landed in Jinshanwei. Songjiang concerns the safety of hundreds of thousands of troops, and we can't afford to lose it!"

Commander Wu said puzzledly:

"Commander Wang, you are too polite. Songjiang City still has Commander Guo's 43rd Army. It shouldn't be a problem for one army to hold out for three days, right?"

Commander Wang was too embarrassed to say it, but Commander Guo smiled bitterly and said:
"The 43rd Army of our brothers fought the Japanese invaders for seven days on the Dachang front, and only about 600 men were left. The Military Commission did not provide any reinforcements.
Commander Wang only has one security group with a few hundred people. How can we defend Songjiang for three days with our limited number of people and guns?"

After hearing this, Commander Wu was deeply moved. He straightened his posture and saluted Commander Guo with great respect.
Although the 67th Army is a northeastern army and now has no backing, its ancestors were once wealthy. In their heyday, they even controlled most of the north and competed with the Central Army for the Central Plains many times.

Although they are now in decline, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and they look down on the beggar-like Sichuan Army;
Although they are all local troops, they are treated differently. Most of the Hunan Army and Guangdong Army have been transformed into the central army. The Northwest Army, Northeast Army, Guangxi Army, and Shanxi Army have all competed with the central army. They are naturally ranked in the first echelon among the local armies. The Sichuan Army is not even in their eyes.

But Commander Wu was an upright man after all. He recognized heroes and respected heroes. When he heard that the 43rd Army was reduced to only more than 600 people, he immediately showed great respect to Commander Guo. Commander Guo also returned a salute. This salute meant that the two of them would fight side by side in Songjiang in the next few days to resist the powerful enemy.

Before the Battle of Songhu, the 67th Army was fighting the Japanese in North China. He took the initiative to apply for transfer to Songhu to participate in the battle. At this time, Dachang fell and the war situation was urgent. The Military Commission had no troops to send, so it agreed to his request.

The 67th Army immediately took a train south to reinforce the Songhu battlefield, and was incorporated into Zhang Xianghua's right-wing army as the general reserve force and stationed in Qingpu.

After the Military Commission received the intelligence from the CC high-level officials that the Japanese 67th Army was going to land in Jinshanwei, the president became anxious and ordered the th Army to reinforce Songjiang.
At the same time, Zhang Xianghua also ordered him to lead the 67th Army to advance lightly to Songjiang and inflict heavy damage on the enemy in order to ensure the safety of the Shanghai right wing army.

The acting commander-in-chief of the right-wing army, Huang Qixiang, also issued a handwritten order to Songjiang Security Commander Wang Gongyu, ordering him to cooperate with the 43rd and 67th Armies to defend Songjiang City for three days. Anyone who disobeyed the order would be subject to military law.

Wang Gongyu and Commander Guo became worried after receiving the order. They had only a thousand men in total and only a few machine guns. Now Commander Wu had arrived with the 2th Army of 67 men, and they finally felt relieved.

Whoever has more troops has the final say. Commander Guo and Commander Wang both said that the 67th Army should take the lead. Commander Wu was not polite and took over the defense of Songjiang.
Considering that there were only a few hundred people left in the 43rd Army, and the powerful 67th Army really didn't need the thousand or so people from the 43rd Army and the Security Corps, they did them a favor and let them serve as the reserve force to help defend the city. Naturally, the two had no objection, as the reserve force would have to step up when the critical moment came.

Due to the urgent military situation, Commander Wu only brought the military headquarters into Songjiang County in advance and immediately ordered

The commander of the 107th Division, Jin Kuibi, led his troops to occupy the area north of Songjiang;

Zhang Wenqing, commander of the 108th Division, led his troops to occupy the area south of Songjiang, waiting for an opportunity to strike the enemy head-on to ensure the safe retreat of friendly forces in Shanghai.

"Brother Guo, Brother Wang, the 107th and 108th Divisions will be in place before dawn. They will guard Songjiang from the south and north respectively and will never let the Japanese cross Songjiang. You and I just need to guard Songjiang City."

Army Commander Guo and Commander Wang both expressed that they had no objection. The next step was to fight the Japanese to the death as long as the people in the city were there.

On November 11, north of Songjiang, the 7th Division of the 67th Army's defense line, because they arrived one day earlier than in another time and space, they had plenty of time to build field fortifications along the north bank of the Huangpu River;

At this time, the fortifications had been completed and the 107th Division was on full alert, waiting for the Japanese to cross the river.

At 107 o'clock in the morning, more than a dozen Japanese bombers flew over the Songjiang defense line. A string of bombs fell from the sky, destroying the trenches that the th Division had built with great effort, and causing hundreds of casualties to the defenders.

As soon as the aerial bombing ended, a part of the Kunisaki detachment that arrived first launched a river crossing operation in a large number of kayaks and wooden boats;

The Huangpu River near Songjiang is about 200 meters wide. The Kunisaki Detachment, which has rich experience in landing operations, did not take this small river seriously at all and deployed an infantry battalion right away.

It’s no wonder that Kunisaki Noboru is so arrogant. His Kunisaki Detachment is definitely the combat force of the entire 10th Army.

The Kunizaki Detachment was affiliated with the 41th Division. It was based on the 3st Infantry Regiment of Tetsujiro Yamada, and was equipped with the 2rd Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment (minus the 5nd Battalion), the 2st Squadron of the 1nd Company of the 6th Engineer Regiment, as well as special arms units such as the communications corps, medical corps, logistics corps, and the th Field Hospital. It had a total strength of about people, and its commander was Major General Noboru Kunizaki of the th Brigade of the th Division.

Previously, they had been assigned to fight in the 18th Division in North China. The 114th Division and the th Division of the th Army were special divisions, and the Japanese high-ranking officials were not very confident about their combat effectiveness.

Therefore, they placed high hopes on the Sixth Division, and the Kunisaki Detachment was the vanguard of the Sixth Division, so they took the lead in launching a river crossing operation north of the Huangpu River.

On the defense line north of Songjiang River, at the field command post of the 107th Brigade of the 319th Division, Major General Zhu Zhirong, the brigade commander, saw the Japanese army forcing their way across the Huangpu River, and he sneered at the chief of staff Pang Yugui and said:
"Damn it, these Japanese are so arrogant. They are taking advantage of the fact that our army has no soldiers and dare to cross the river in kayaks and broken wooden boats. This time, I will make sure they never come back!

Tell the troops not to rush to open fire, let them reach the center of the river, and then order the artillery battalion to fire flatly to blast them to pieces." Chief of Staff Pang took over and said:
"Since our Northeast Army retreated into the interior of China, we have endured too much abuse. Today, I will use the devil's heads to clear the name of our Northeastern men."

After Chief of Staff Pang finished speaking, he left with a murderous look on his face. He wanted to pass on the brigade commander's instructions to the front-line troops and command them from the front.

On the other side of the river, at the Kunisaki Detachment Headquarters, Major General Kunisaki Noboru was also watching the 41st Infantry Regiment's st Battalion crossing the river with great interest. The regiment commander, Colonel Tetsujiro Yamada, was accompanying them. The two old devils were in a good mood, and Kunisaki Noboru even smiled and said:
"Mr. Yamada, according to intelligence, the one defending Jiangbei is a division of the Northeastern Army of China. Six years ago, they were driven out of Manchuria by thousands of people from the Kwantung Army. This unit has no combat effectiveness at all and may have already abandoned the battle and fled. This time, the Yamada regiment will get another big credit."

When Colonel Yamada heard that it was the Northeastern Army stationed in Manchuria, he showed a look of disdain on his face and said arrogantly:

"Kunizaki-kun, if it is that tofu army, then my Yamada Regiment won unfairly. The Kwantung Army's 2 troops were able to drive away their hundreds of thousands of troops. Our Kunizaki Detachment only needs one battalion to defeat the enemy on the opposite side."

“Mr. Yamada, our Fifth Division is known as the Steel Army. The division commander swept across Shanxi with only one detachment in North China, and successively defeated more than 30 divisions of the Central Army and the Shanxi Army of China. The tofu army of China is not only the Northeast Army;

This time, when attacking Songjiang, our Qi detachment must take the lead. There are hundreds of thousands of elite Chinese troops in Jiangbei, so it’s a good opportunity to meet them.”

"Kunisaki-kun, in front of the Kunisaki Detachment, China has no elite troops! The Yamada Regiment is fighting against the elite troops!"

After Colonel Yamada finished speaking, the two men laughed arrogantly, completely ignoring the defenders.

Kunisaki Tomo's smile suddenly froze, looking as ugly as if he had just swallowed a pile of shit. Yamada followed Kunisaki Tomo's gaze towards the river and was also shocked.

"Bagayalu, what kind of work is this?"

The more arrogant they were before, the more painful the slap in the face they received now. Not only did the defenders not flee, they also fired at their crossing river troops. Ferry boats were overturned one after another, and the troops in the river were being slaughtered, without any ability to fight back.

Kunisaki Noboru was indeed one of the most famous generals in the Ghost Army. He quickly recovered from his shock and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Quickly, order the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment to fire at the other side of the river and destroy the Chinese artillery!"

It was too late to fire now. The Japanese soldiers of the Jinjing Battalion on the river had suffered heavy casualties, but the Japanese soldiers of the Fifth Division were indeed brave. Major Kanai Kousuke not only did not retreat, but continued to attack despite the artillery fire of the defenders.
Major Kanai was rushing to the front in a kayak, holding his command knife high. He was only a few dozen meters away from reaching the beach, and he would not give in easily.

When the Japanese fleet rushed to the river bank, hundreds of light and heavy machine guns of the defenders suddenly opened fire, and countless bullets rolled towards the Japanese like a storm, killing them one after another and falling into the water;
Major Kanai finally witnessed the strength of the defenders. They were not crossing the river, but committing suicide.

At this time, the Jinjing Battalion had already suffered more than half casualties, and more than 30% of the ferry boats had been lost. Even if they succeeded in landing on the beach, they would not be able to repel the defenders with just their small number of people, and would only cause more casualties.
Thinking of this, Major Kanai began to back down and was about to order a retreat when a shell fell from the sky and accurately hit the kayak he was riding in, tearing the kayak into pieces in an instant.

Major Kanai was also hit by several shrapnel and sank to the bottom of the river to be fed to turtles. Brigade Commander Zhu in the command center cheered for him, and all the depression he had accumulated in his heart since retreating to the interior of China for several years was swept away. The men in the Northeast are also very capable!

The Japanese finally couldn't bear the huge casualties and fell through the bow of the ship and started to flee, but escaping on the river is not the same as escaping on land. Hundreds of people were killed or injured in the process of turning the bow of the ship. The ship parked on the river was equivalent to a sitting duck.

"Bakayaluo, a bunch of rubbish, they have brought disgrace upon the empire - kill the chickens!"

In front of Major General Kunisaki, Colonel Yamada felt a little embarrassed and immediately ordered the regiment's artillery squadron to fire at them. These cowards did not deserve to live.

Kunisaki Noboru suppressed his anger and tried to dissuade Yamada:

“Yamada-kun, victory and defeat are common in the military. We underestimated the enemy, so it’s not the warriors’ fault.

Order the artillery to suppress the firepower on the other side and cover their withdrawal!"

Seeing that the detachment commander was unwilling to pursue the matter, Colonel Yamada decided that there was no need for him to take it seriously, since the dead were soldiers from Yamada's regiment.

There are only three battalions in the Yamada Regiment. If he really kills them all, the Yamada Regiment will lose one-third of its troops, and he will still feel the pain.

The order was immediately changed and the artillery squadron turned its shelling target to the opposite bank to cover the remaining troops' withdrawal to the south bank.

Even if a few people were withdrawn, the Jinjing Battalion would not be considered completely wiped out. The invincible Fifth Division could not withstand the blow of the annihilation of a battalion.

The remnants of the Jinjing Battalion retreated desperately. Those who could swim even jumped into the river and struggled desperately in the cold water. From time to time, some people sank to the bottom of the river because of frozen hands and feet.

Colonel Yamada's face turned very ugly. He thought it would be an easy journey across the river, but ended up losing half of the battalion. It was estimated that at least half of the soldiers did not come back, and the casualties would not be less than 6. The Kanai Battalion was considered to be crippled, and their faces were slapped.

Instead, Kunisaki Noboru comforted him:
"Yamada-kun, it seems that we underestimated this group of Northeastern troops. There are also tough guys in the Tofu Army, so we can't underestimate anyone, otherwise this will be the price!"

Colonel Yamada, who was always arrogant, rarely refuted. Those who could become the commander of a first-class permanent division were not fools, they were just a little arrogant at most.

Since the Sino-Japanese War, the Japs have looked down on the Chinese. This nation is just like that. They only respect the strong.
Even if it is the Chinese who can hurt them, they will pay attention to them, and then they will start to sum up the lessons and study new countermeasures. This small setback will not make them give up the attack.

The victory in the first battle at the 107th Division Headquarters made the atmosphere in the division very good, and the confidence was boosted. The division commander Jin Kuibi excitedly said to the chief of staff:
"Chief of Staff, report the victory to the military headquarters immediately and let the army commander be happy. Also, tell Brigade Commander Zhu that this is just the Japanese's carelessness and does not represent the combat power of both sides. Don't be arrogant. Guard against the Japanese and never let a single soldier cross the river."

(End of this chapter)