Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 164: Destroying the Ninth Division
Hiromi Nakagawa saw that Yoshika Ryosuke was finally willing to move forward and he breathed a sigh of relief. If they continued fighting, the entire army would be wiped out. This was a first-class division and no one could afford such a responsibility.

Of course he couldn't say this, as he had to save the division commander's face, so he just turned into Yunzaobang!
"Your Excellency the division commander is wise. Now the division has elite Chinese troops in the east, south, and west, leaving only the north.

This is a typical Chinese tactic of "encircling three sides and leaving one side". They are not sure of completely annihilating the Ninth Division. Their goal is to force the Imperial Army to turn north so that they can take the opportunity to kill them. Therefore, they must leave enough troops behind to prevent the Chinese conspiracy from succeeding. "

Jijia Liangfu's face looked better then. As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!

"Mr. Nakagawa, telegraph the 19th, 35th, and 36th Regiments, and tell them to hold on until dark to cover the division headquarters' advance. After dark, the three regiments will take turns to cover the retreat toward Yunzaobang, and the division headquarters will meet them from behind Yunzaobang."

Nakagawa Hiro looked at the sky and saw that there were at most two hours left before dark, so it would not be difficult for the three regiments to accomplish this goal. He immediately bowed to Yoshika Ryosuke and turned to leave.

Half an hour later, the 527th Division Headquarters began to break out to the north - or to be more precise, to turn around. Since there were no troops from the th Regiment in the north, their retreat was very smooth.

As soon as the 9th Division headquarters retreated, Yue Qianli received the news and immediately ordered each battalion to intensify the offensive and prepare to pursue the enemy relentlessly, which further accelerated the defeat of the 9th Division.

With the evacuation of the division headquarters, the morale of the Japanese troops plummeted. Under the fierce attack of the second and third battalions, the 36th Regiment, which suffered heavy casualties, was the first to be defeated.

Next came the remnants of the 35th Regiment and Hitomi Hidezo's troops. There was no alternating cover, and they were just defeated like a mountain. It was just a competition of who had longer legs!

The battalions of the 527th Regiment pursued the Japanese on all fronts, killing and routed the enemy troops, with countless of them dying on the road.

At first, the division headquarters was able to retreat calmly with its artillery and baggage. However, after learning that the main force had been defeated, it decisively ordered the blasting of the bulky 105mm heavy howitzers, and retreated with only the relatively light 75mm field guns.

The 527th Division had a high mule and horse rate. It only took a few mules and horses to transport a mountain cannon, and those that could not be taken away were destroyed by them. Yoshika Ryosuke was a ruthless man and did not leave too many things for the th Regiment.

Several main regiments were defeated, so they left behind most of their supplies and heavy equipment. Those who were able to run back with a rifle were good soldiers.

The various battalions chased after the Japanese and shouted for their lives, hastening their defeat, to the point where they saw enemies everywhere.
Who said the Japs weren't defeated? It's just that they haven't been killed to the point of being utterly annihilated...

Fortunately, the Japanese were lucky. Not long after their defeat, it was dark. The battalion commanders were worried that a melee would break out after dark, so they gave up the pursuit. However, the noise was very loud, with shouts, screams, and gunfire. The Japanese were so scared that they continued to flee for their lives and did not dare to stop for a moment.

The defeated Japanese soldiers were so scared that they saw enemies everywhere. Whenever they heard gunshots in the dark, they thought they were pursuers and ran away.

Even the officers would be forced to run. As long as they were not dead, they would run for their lives. Saving their lives was the most important thing. This was a common problem among the defeated soldiers, and the Japanese were no exception.

The defeated soldiers of the 9th Division fled across Yunzaobang overnight, and they felt more at ease when there was a river blocking their way.
In order to buy time for the main force to rest, Yue Qianli ordered the first battalion to send a company to chase to the south bank of Yunzaobang, and then pretended to cross the river, which scared the Japanese so much that they started shooting with machine guns.

The first company of the first battalion then retreated several hundred meters, and began to dig trenches, cut down trees and tie logs in front of the Japanese, preparing to cross the river. Yoshika Ryosuke knew that the Chinese were bluffing, but he did not dare to attack Yunzaobang, because his troops were already panic-stricken, and it would be good enough to be able to defend Yunzaobang.

What's worrying him most now is to reorganize the troops and then request tactical guidance from the Shanghai Expeditionary Force. It is almost impossible to counterattack south of Yunzaobang with these remnants.

"Your Excellency, the division commander, the casualties have been counted. It is possible that there are still some missing personnel who are fighting south of Yunzaobang. In addition, the troops that were previously transferred have all returned to their bases."

This is what Yoshika Ryosuke is most reluctant to face. If possible, he would rather be an ostrich, but he is the division commander and must face the cruel reality.

Although he was mentally prepared, he still felt dizzy when he saw the damage figures, and Hiroshi Nakagawa supported him just in time.

Yoshika Ryosuke pushed Colonel Nakagawa Hiroshi away and said sternly:
"I just moved too violently when I stood up, that's all!"

Nakagawa Hiro then realized that he had been a little rash, and quickly bowed to apologize. Lieutenant General Yoshika waved his hand and said:
"Mr. Nakagawa, there is no need to be like this. A true warrior dares to face failure!
Our Wu Division suffered heavy losses, and the Chinese also suffered many casualties. The 88th Division was almost crippled. If we add the defeated soldiers they gathered, the casualties would be much higher than those of the Imperial Army."

Nakagawa Hiro reacted instantly and followed Yoshika Ryosuke's words and said:
"When the Chinese retreated to the south of Suzhou River, they abandoned a large number of defeated soldiers, numbering 10,000 - no, tens of thousands;
The 88th Division gathered them all together and put up a desperate resistance in Zhabei. Our Wushu Division fought fiercely with them for several days, annihilated more than 2 enemies, and suffered more than a thousand casualties—"

Yoshika Ryosuke interrupted him and said:
"Report several thousand! Report truthfully. The Imperial Army never conceals losses in battle. Request tactical guidance."

Nakagawa Hiro understood immediately that there was room for maneuver with this few thousand. Nine thousand was also a few thousand, and so was two thousand. It was just a numbers game.

As long as the specific numbers are not reported, the Ninth Division has the right to interpret the battle report, and there is nothing wrong with annihilating 2 enemies and losing 2 of its own troops.

In Zhabei, at the 527th Regiment Headquarters, Yue Qianli also felt bad after receiving the battle damage report, and almost fainted. Before the battle, each battalion had a full strength of 2 soldiers, and there were several hundred reinforcements.
After the first battle, all the reinforcements were wiped out, and the main force also suffered a lot. The worst hit were the artillery battalion and the reinforcement battalion, which were almost destroyed. There were only a few hundred people left in the artillery battalion, and only 1300 people left in the reinforcement battalion.

Everyone was in a bad mood. The losses in this battle were too great, with nearly half of the regiment killed or wounded.

"Brothers, we can't just focus on our own casualties. The most important thing is how many Japanese soldiers we killed.
Deputy Commander Tian, ​​please report the results of the battle to everyone!"

Tian Yuanxi cheered up and said:
"Brothers, in the battle of Southern Shanghai, our 527th Regiment fought bravely and wiped out more than 6 Japanese soldiers, seized a large amount of weapons, equipment and supplies, and suffered more than 5 casualties, including 2782 deaths.
Considering that the Ninth Division only has three infantry regiments and no more than 3 soldiers, these 6 people are real losses, which basically crippled the Ninth Division. "

Everyone cheered, and their morale was greatly boosted. They were very proud of the fact that they could fight like this with a group of temporarily gathered defeated soldiers. Of course, the artillery battalion killed the most enemies.

They held the headquarters building firmly and killed nearly half of the Japanese soldiers. Thinking of this, everyone looked at Yue Qianli with even more fiery eyes.

(End of this chapter)