Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 275: The Bloody Battle of Taierzhuang (1)

As soon as the two sides started fighting, Captain Takao knew he had encountered a tough opponent. In his impression, the Chinese were not good at hand-to-hand combat, and not many people dared to use knives against them.

The Japanese had undergone long-term hand-to-hand combat training before the war. An assassination team composed of three Japanese soldiers could not defeat more than a dozen Nationalist soldiers. The casualty ratio was even greater than that in a gun battle. This is why the Japanese liked to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Gaowei Squadron was not fully staffed, with only about 150 men, and the 2st Battalion had only two companies in Kangzhuang, with more than 200 men, so the difference in numbers between the two sides was not much;
After the collision, the officers and soldiers of the first battalion swung their swords and used the Northwest Army's "Eight Breaking Swords", killing many Japanese soldiers. It was the first time that the Gaowei Squadron suffered a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat, which they could not accept.

Captain Takao was also apparently an expert swordsman, for he cut down two of the warriors in a short time;

Captain Zhang's sword flew up and down, and he also chopped down three Japanese soldiers. Both of them discovered each other and slashed at the same time, sparks flying, and they were evenly matched.

The Seya Detachment was formed with the 33rd Infantry Brigade as its core, and under it were the 10th Infantry Regiment (minus one and a half battalions) of Akashiba Yaezō and the 1rd Infantry Regiment of Fukuei Chinpei.

野炮兵第10联队（欠1个大队及2个中队）、野战重炮第2联队（欠1个大队）、华夏驻屯炮兵联队第3大队（辖2个150毫米榴弹炮中队）、临时野炮兵和山炮兵中队各1个；
独立机枪第10大队、独立轻型战车第10和第12中队、工兵第10联队第1中队及通讯队、卫生队、第1野战医院、兵站汽车第15中队等。

The main target of the Seya Detachment was Taierzhuang. Although the infantry had only 4 and a half battalions with less than 5 people, the artillery was extremely strong. There were 3 battalions of heavy artillery alone. Together with other artillery, the firepower was several times more powerful than that of the Second Army. The firepower of both sides was not on the same level.

The 31st Division was part of the Second Army Group. It was previously part of Ji Hongchang's 22nd Corps. It was an adjusted division with two brigades and four regiments under its command. Together with its direct subordinate units, it had a total strength of more than 8700 men.

一营装备了两门迫击炮，跟中央军一个标准，全师装备步马枪合计4113支、轻机枪146挺、重机枪54挺、手枪297支、冲锋枪15支、信号枪20支、山炮4门、八二迫击炮24门、大刀2549把（31师入驻台儿庄时上报的装备数据）。

Each company had only four light machine guns, and their firepower was far inferior to that of the Japanese. So if the Japanese wanted to use bayonets, Captain Zhang would naturally play along.
He and Captain Takao had met their match. After fighting for dozens of rounds, neither of them killed the other. Of course, minor injuries were inevitable, as both were stabbed several times by the other.

As time went on, Captain Takao gradually lost his patience and became impatient, because he saw from the corner of his eye that most of his warriors had been killed or wounded, while the defenders were fighting more and more bravely, and their sword dance was terrifying;

Gao Wei thought about retreating. If he continued to fight, his entire army would be wiped out. Moreover, this was the Chinese defense zone and reinforcements could arrive at any time.

When masters fight, they must be careful not to be distracted. Captain Zhang also noticed that the Japanese was a little absent-minded, so he deliberately gave Gao Wei a flaw;
Sure enough, the Japanese who were eager to get rid of Captain Zhang were fooled. Their sword strike missed the target. Their move was already outdated, and they exposed their vital points to Captain Zhang's sword.

Captain Zhang showed a strange smile on his face, and chopped down the sword in his hand like thunder. Captain Gaowei was frightened and broke into a cold sweat, and raised his hand to block it reflexively;

Unfortunately, his posture was of no use at all, and Captain Zhang still chopped him in half with his sword.

"What a quick knife!"

Captain Takao had been playing with swords for half his life, but he eventually died at the hands of the Chinese!
As the Japanese squadron leader fell, the Japanese soldiers, who had already been frightened by killing, collapsed instantly and retreated like a tide;
The soldiers of the first battalion took advantage of the opportunity to kill the devils, causing them to flee like rabbits, with their bodies scattered all over the ground.

“Tattah…” “Tattah…”

Several flames shot out from a distance, and more than a dozen of the brothers chasing in the front were mowed down. Battalion Commander Zhang saw that the enemy's reinforcement troops had arrived, so he immediately stopped the pursuit and retreated to his own position while providing cover for the enemy.
The first encounter between the two sides came to an end. After the war, a total of 103 Japanese corpses were found, and the first battalion suffered 97 casualties. The Chinese troops won a small victory.

At the same time, the Taierzhuang Detachment of the Seya Detachment also engaged in a fierce battle with another unit of the 31st Division in the Beiluo area, resulting in casualties on both sides.

That afternoon, the Second Army's divisions had arrived near Xuzhou. Commander Sun Lianzhong was ordered to rush to Taierzhuang to take command and dispatch the 27th Division to guard the canal.

The Seya Detachment divided into several groups to attack Taierzhuang, the Yizhou Detachment supported the 5th Division's attack towards Linyi, the main force of the 10th Regiment was located in Lincheng, and the main force of the 63rd Regiment was located in Yi County.

The next day, the Japanese attacked Liujia Lake, which was the focus of the 31st Division's defense. The defenders fought back and both sides suffered casualties. After a fierce battle, the Japanese were driven out.

The 31st Division adopted the tactic of shrinking its forces and set up defenses in Beizhan, Nanluo, Taierzhuang and Liujiahu respectively;

The Japanese troops gradually increased their strength and were replenished with heavy artillery, tanks and ammunition.

In order to strengthen the determination of the 31st Division Commander Chi Chengfeng to hold the position, Commander Li also strengthened the Taierzhuang defense line with a field heavy artillery regiment, an anti-tank artillery battalion, and a tank squadron, greatly enhancing the firepower of the defenders.

Taierzhuang, North Gate, filled with smoke

As soon as the Japanese artillery preparation was completed, hundreds of Japanese soldiers, led by a dozen tanks, launched an attack on the north city;
When the battalion commander, Major Lu Zeliang, saw the devils using the Iron Turtle, he shouted:
"The Japanese bastards are coming, quickly push the anti-tank guns over here and knock them over for me!"

The anti-tank artillery battalion that had just been reinforced came in handy. In order to strengthen the defense of each city, Division Commander Chi gave them the anti-tank artillery to assist in defending the city. The Second Battalion was also allocated 3 guns, which were real treasures.

According to the intelligence the Japanese had, the troops defending Taierzhuang were a ragtag division with no anti-tank guns, so they had nothing to fear.
The Japanese armored vehicles were lined up in two rows, and each tank was surrounded by a large number of infantry to protect the tanks from sneak attacks by the defending suicide squads.

When the Japanese tanks entered the range of the anti-tank guns, the anti-tank gun company commander decisively ordered to open fire;
One shell after another flew straight at the Japanese tanks, destroying several of them in succession. The Japanese tanks were so scared that they turned around and fled.

They didn't expect the defenders to have anti-tank guns. Tanks were too precious for the resource-scarce days, so they left it to the lowly infantry to deal with.
During the escape, two more tanks were destroyed, and finally the army returned empty-handed with the wreckage of six tanks left behind. The first attack ended in this way, and the anti-tank artillery company showed its great power.

Unfortunately, that was the end of it. The Japs' retaliatory artillery fire followed, with row after row of artillery fire almost covering the northern part of the city.
Two of the three anti-tank guns were lost, and a gap was blown in the northeastern city wall.

(End of this chapter)