Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 206 Ambush the Pursuers
At five o'clock in the morning, the general offensive, which had been prepared for a day, was launched as scheduled. They did not know that the defenders had already withdrawn from their positions, but they still carried out artillery preparations as planned. They showed enough respect to the 88th Division, and the tons of artillery shells that fell were the best proof of that.

Tani Hisao watched all this with great interest, his self-confidence soaring. With the assists from both wings, he was confident that he could take Yuhuatai in one charge, and then pursue the victory to capture Zhonghuamen.

"Your Excellency, the division commander, Yuhuatai has lost the value of continuing to defend it. If I am not mistaken, Yue Qianli will not fight to the death. If he can't hold on any longer, he will retreat to the city. Do you want to send a regiment in advance to cut off their retreat?"

The Chief of Staff Colonel Shimotsuke suggested in a very humorous way, and as expected, Tani Hisao waved his hand confidently and said:
"Xie Ye-kun, the military strategy says to surround three with one gap. Only in this way will Yue Qianli's troops lose their will to fight and flee into the city.
Once their retreat is cut off, they will be forced to fight desperately with the Kumamoto Division, or even break out, which will turn into a war of attrition. "

Colonel Shimotsuke suddenly realized:
"Your Excellency the Division Commander is indeed an expert on China. You have a thorough understanding of the Chinese people's military tactics and human nature. This nation has a characteristic that we cannot force them into a corner.

First drive them into the city, then slowly tighten the encirclement, boil the frogs in warm water, and finally eliminate them all - great!"

Tani Hisao said proudly:
"Mr. Xiaye, Jinling City has no strategic location to defend. Once Yue Qianli's troops retreat into the city, they will lose their fighting spirit. Under the encirclement of the 200,000-strong empire army, it is only a matter of time before they are annihilated.

The city of Jinling is right before our eyes. Tell the warriors that they can revel as much as they want once they enter the city. They can kill all the resistance elements. Military discipline will be lifted for ten days. Kill the chickens for them!"

The Japanese army had no military discipline to begin with, and now it had been abolished, so each of them was as excited as a beast released from a cage, screaming and rushing towards the Yuhuatai position, soon filling the entire Yuhuatai.

"Your Excellency, the division commander, we haven't heard any gunfire. It seems that the cowardly Chinese people have fled overnight. This is really disappointing."

After hearing this, Gu Shoufu laughed and said:

"This is in line with the nature of the Chinese people, and it is reasonable to escape early!

The monk may escape, but the temple cannot. Now the city of Jinling has been surrounded by the Empire. The next step is to drive them into the river. The warriors can revel to their heart's content. "

At the same time, the Japanese divisions also launched a general offensive, and the defenders were completely defeated and retreated into the city;
The Japanese pursued relentlessly and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides near the city wall. By noon, the city gates were breached one after another, and the defenders retreated into the city, where a brutal street fight broke out between the two sides.

At 3:36 p.m., some of the defeated officers and soldiers attempted to cross the river from Yijiang Gate and flee northward, but were blocked by the th Division and the headquarters' special forces. The order of the defenders in Nanjing was in chaos.

At 5 p.m., Commander Tang convened a meeting of senior generals, decided to abandon the city and retreat, and drew up a detailed retreat plan.

However, the president placed his hopes on diplomatic negotiations, so he urgently ordered Commander Tang to hold on to Nanjing for another day, saying that "if Nanjing can hold on for one more day, it will bring more glory to the nation. If it can hold on for more than half a month, the internal and external situation will change greatly.

And our field army can also respond as scheduled, without having to worry about being surrounded by the enemy. "

They were all chicken soup articles. The city had been breached, but they still wanted to hold out for more than half a month, promising that reinforcements would arrive. Commander Tang didn't buy it at all, so he ordered a breakout at the meeting. The specific plan was:
The 74th Army broke out from the area to the right of Tiexin Bridge, Guli Village, and Lulang Bridge;

教导总队、第66军、第103师、第112师，第83军于紫金山、鹿麒麟门、土桥镇一线向皖南突围；第2军团、第36师、宪兵部队及直属队、南京卫戍司令长官等渡江突围……

This breakout plan was quite good. At this time, the Japanese encirclement was still very fragile. If we ordered each army to break out from the front of their respective defense zones, it would be possible to break out.

Commander Tang was so stupid that he added that if the 87th Division, 88th Division, 74th Army, and the Training Corps could not break out, they could take turns crossing the river and assemble in Chuzhou.

This order made other troops lose their determination to break out head-on, as it would be much safer to break out by crossing the river. As a result, all the troops rushed to the riverside, and no one was willing to stop the Japanese.

The troops at various river mouths far exceeded the capacity of the ferry. About 10 divisions with 10 troops were assembled between Xiaguan and Pukou. Conflicts broke out in front of Yijiang Gate due to the troops scrambling to cross the river. The soldiers fired their guns at will, and the city became a mess.

The only variable here is the 88th Division. They did not go to the dock to compete with other defeated soldiers for the few ferries as they did in another time and space. Instead, they stayed in the south city to fight street battles with the Japanese army and tie down some of the devils.

During the fierce battle between the guerrilla column and the Japanese, the 262nd and 264th Brigades had been preparing for street fighting. After the guerrilla column retreated into the city, the three brigades formed a V-shaped layout and blocked the passage of the 6th and 114th divisions into the city. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides.
The 6th Division and the 114th Division immediately split up their forces. The main force of the 114th Division made a detour from the west, the th Infantry Brigade of the th Division made a detour from the east, and the main force of the th Division launched an attack from the front.

88师的品字形布防游击纵队顶在最前面，262旅、264旅拖后一东一西在城区设置了倒八字伏击阵，中间留出了一条宽500米、纵深2公里的通道；

The main forces of the Shanghai-Nanjing Guerrilla Column, the First and Second Detachments, began to collapse after an hour-long fierce battle with the two regiments of the 36th Infantry Brigade, and the main force of the th Brigade was drawn to the central passage.

The Japanese didn't know it was a trick, so the vanguard 23rd Infantry Regiment rushed in headfirst, followed by the 45th Infantry Regiment. Their tactical goal was very clear, which was to break through the 88th Division's defense zone from the middle, pursue and annihilate the guerrilla column;

The division headquarters and the regiment directly under it stayed in the city garden, waiting for the infantry brigade to open up the situation before entering the city.

The two detachments of the guerrilla column marched deep into the enemy territory, throwing their guns and supplies all over the ground, which made the pursuing devils extremely excited, and they soon ran everywhere;
Not long after, the vanguard battalion of the 23rd Regiment encountered an ambush and gunfire rang out. The 3rd Guerrilla Column, which had been in a state of collapse, fought back and launched a counterattack against the Japanese, killing hundreds of them.

The sudden change did not arouse their vigilance. The commander of the 23rd Regiment immediately sent out two other battalions to make a detour to the two wings, but they also ran into an iron wall.

Not long after, the 264th Brigade and the 262nd Brigade, which were ambushed on both wings, launched a fierce attack on the Japanese on a two-kilometer-long front. The Japanese were now in a long snake formation and had almost no defense against attacks from both sides.

The 88th Division's attack on the Japanese was like a sharp knife stabbing into their waists and ribs, killing the Japanese and making them defeated. The attack instantly turned into a one-sided massacre.

After disrupting the Japanese formation, tens of thousands of soldiers from the 262nd and 264th Brigades who were ambushed on both sides decisively charged into the Japanese group, cutting them into small pieces, dividing and encircling them, and then defeating them one by one. The th Brigade paid a heavy price for their arrogance.

(End of this chapter)