Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 202 Yue Qianli's Plan
When all the Japanese retreated like a tide, Zhou Rixing, covered in blood, felt his eyes go dark and he fell heavily. The company's signalman was so frightened that he rushed over to check if he was still alive.

This was already the third company commander he had served, so he dared not make any more mistakes. After feeling his breath, he burst into tears of joy and shouted:
"Medic, the company commander is not dead yet - hurry!"

Of course Zhou Rixing was so angry that he vomited blood. This guy’s mouth was too foul, and he had to change a communicator.

Seeing Zhou Rixing fall, Li Jiaxun's heart rose to his throat and he began to regret occupying Captain Zhou's command post. In the words of the regiment commander, this was just causing trouble for the people below!
Just as the First Battalion rescued the wounded, the Japanese artillery shells came again, and it was still endless. The soldiers of the First Battalion could only huddle in the anti-artillery cave and endure it silently;

Chinese soldiers are the best soldiers in the world. They are willing to sacrifice their lives for this country without any complaints as long as they are given a meal.

At the headquarters of the Shanghai-Nanjing Guerrilla Column, Yue Qianli was staring at the map, sometimes for half a day, as if the fierce battle outside had nothing to do with him;
Chief of Staff Chen Zhongyuan and Deputy Commander Tian Yuanxi quietly accompanied him, fearing that they would disturb Old Yue's thoughts;

The fighting on the front line was tense. The first and second detachments at the front suffered heavy casualties, and the surrounding fronts were even more precarious. Once the defense line of the brother units was breached, their persistence in Yuhuatai would lose its meaning.

Yue Qianli was thinking more about the next step of the war. The fall of Nanjing was only a matter of time. His persistence in Yuhuatai was not of much value from a military perspective, but this was Nanjing, and he would not give it to the Japanese easily.

"Zhongyuan, Lao Tian, ​​I have an idea. Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, the old devil, is clamoring to hold a city entry ceremony?

I want to trick them. I plan to bury all the 105mm heavy artillery shells I captured before under the Zhonghua Gate, and then use explosives and detonators to make a big firecracker. When the Japanese enter the city, I will detonate it. I will ask them to take a homemade plane and break out while the Japanese are in chaos! "

Tian Yuanxi's eyes lit up after hearing this. This plan was very feasible. He immediately took over the conversation and said:
"Old Yue, I agree with this plan. Jinling City is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the water on one side. As long as the Japanese warships block the Yangtze River waterway, we can only break out from the front.
If we use the chaos created by the explosion to break out, there is a good chance of getting out. If we leave a support force outside, the chance of breaking out will be even greater.”

Chen Zhongyuan also agreed and said that if anything could be arranged, he would stay behind to be a member of the suicide squad and set off the firecrackers.

Yue Qianli waved his hand and said:
"This is not your turn as the Chief of Staff. I plan to select two demolition experts from the Supply Battalion to assist the brothers in the Reconnaissance Battalion in detonating the explosives.
The digging of the tunnel under Zhonghua Gate must be kept secret. Leave this matter to Lao Tian. Let the reconnaissance battalion cooperate with you. This time I will use them like groundhogs.

The tunnels should be dug deeper and wider so that they can hide enough bombs for better results. At least a gap of hundreds of meters should be blown open in the city wall so that the breakout can be faster.

As for the support troops, don't worry too much. We have a ready-made independent detachment. After arranging the retreat route, we can fight the Japanese to the death in the city.

We can give them Jinling City, but we have to pay with human lives. These are standing divisions that the devils have trained for many years. If we use up more of their veterans, the battles that follow will be much easier to fight!"

Tian Yuanxi and Chen Zhongyuan agreed with this. They had now followed Yue Qianli's line of thinking. They had to fight a protracted war and a war of attrition with the Japanese. Once the initial hundreds of thousands of old Japanese soldiers were consumed, the overall combat effectiveness of the Japanese would decline.

After two days of thinking, Yue Qianli finally figured out a way to retreat. Now he could have some fun with the devils from the Sixth Division.

During this period, the supply team worked overtime to produce rockets, producing an average of 150 rockets per day, which would be enough for the breakout. At that time, he would give the Japanese a big surprise.

At the Sixth Division Headquarters, Tani Hisao's expression was not very good. He really wanted to curse. A small Yuhuatai had blocked them for two days, and they suffered heavy casualties. The worst thing was that other divisions had made great breakthroughs. Even the 114th Division next door fought better than them and were almost reaching the top of the hill.

"Damn it! Do they still have any sense of honor for the Kumamoto Division? Now even the farmers in Utsunomiya are waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves!"

Colonel Shimono Ichikō could understand the division commander's feelings at this moment. There is no harm without comparison. This Utsunomiya Division is not the 14th Division, but the 114th Division, the second batch of special divisions, a group of reserve forces;

Before its establishment, most people were engaged in farming and fishing. The Sixth Division was proud and arrogant, so how could it tolerate losing to a special division?

He could only comfort Gu Shoufu:
"Your Excellency, the hills on the right wing are more difficult to attack than those on the left wing. The defenders are the elite troops brought up by Yue Qianli. The warriors of the 13th Regiment have done their best to achieve this.

Now we can only increase firepower, destroy all the defenders' positions, and then send in a regiment to use the advantage of manpower to force an intrusion. These are China's most elite troops, and casualties are inevitable."

Tani Hisao's expression improved a little, but he still said stubbornly:
"Even if our opponents are stronger, it's no reason for them to stand still!

Telegraph to that bastard Okamoto Yasuyuki that I will also send the 23rd Infantry Regiment up there and let him take unified command. We must capture the Chinese positions before dark.

I don't need to hear any casualty reports, I just want Yuhuatai!"

Shimotsu looked stern, bowed to Tani Hisao and turned to leave. Tani Hisao's eyes were filled with murderous intent as he looked towards Yuhuatai.

On the right wing, the air was filled with gunpowder smoke. The Japanese attack was repelled once again. The hill was covered with the bodies of soldiers from both sides. Many of them were still wrestling with each other, and the knives in their hands had stabbed into each other's bodies.

The Second Detachment was rushing to rescue the wounded. There were wounded soldiers everywhere in the loose soil and among the dead bodies. They would kill any Japanese they saw and carry them away immediately. This was the advantage of the defending side; they had the initiative.

同样伤亡1千人，战场上伤员和阵亡的比例一般在3比1甚至4比1之间，排除掉轻伤员也在2比1以上；

The 1 people left by the Japanese on the battlefield all became corpses, while at least half of the Second Detachment were able to be rescued. This is the difference.

After two days of fierce fighting, more than half of the Second Brigade suffered casualties, but only more than 800 of them were actually killed, and the rest were lightly or seriously wounded;

The 13th Regiment also suffered more than half of its troops in casualties. In addition to the lightly wounded who were sent back, the seriously wounded became corpses, with more than 2 bodies left. This was the result of a replenishment, otherwise the 13th Regiment would have been crippled.

The old devil Okamoto even wanted to die, and his eyes looking at the defenders' positions were as vicious as a cobra. The newly reinforced 23rd Regiment comforted him:
"Okamoto-kun, victory and defeat are common in the military. We just need to get our ground back soon!"

(End of this chapter)