20demayo Chapter 66 The Chairman Begins Micromanagement
Chapter 66 The Chairman Begins Micromanagement
Guanghua Gate was already in imminent danger under the fierce attack of the Ninth Division, and Shuixi Gate was also in danger of being breached at any time.
The situation was slightly better at Zijin Mountain, where the Central Training Corps was stationed, and they repeatedly repelled several fierce attacks by the Japanese army.
However, this unit also suffered heavy losses, its ammunition was being used up very quickly, and it was unknown how long it could hold out.
"The Chairman has issued new orders."
Tang Shengzhi looked up at Chief of Staff Xiao Shen and said.
"What orders?"
Chief of Staff Xiao asked with some doubt.
Commander-in-Chief Tang handed over the telegram and said:
"I told Chiang Kai-shek that the battle to defend Nanjing had only been going on for two days, and the casualties were already heavy, with ammunition and supplies severely lacking. It would be impossible to hold out for even half a month."
Looking at the contents of the telegram, Chief of Staff Xiao Shen discovered that the Chairman, who had previously ordered the defense of Nanjing, now had a new order in the telegram.
"If we cannot hold out, we should withdraw from Nanjing as soon as possible, either by breaking out or crossing the river, in order to preserve the strength of our army."
However, Chief of Staff Xiao Shen was well aware that if this order were issued, it would inevitably cause unrest among the troops, and the troops that were still fighting outside Nanjing might also think about deserting.
In addition, the large number of refugees crowding the riverbank made them easy targets for Japanese aircraft, and they might even be slaughtered by the Japanese troops who arrived later.
Thinking of this, he decisively said:
"We cannot retreat, at least not now. If we retreat now, the people of Nanjing will be slaughtered! We will both become sinners for all time!"
Tang Shengzhi glanced at Chief of Staff Xiao Shen, then said:
"I understand your feelings, but the situation is critical right now. Is it what you want to see 100,000 troops in Nanjing perish at the hands of the Japanese invaders?"
Moreover...whether the Japanese army would massacre civilians was originally unknown; it was mostly people like Li Jianghe spreading alarmist rumors.
These words left Chief of Staff Xiao Shen momentarily speechless.
"Go and relay my order: summon all unit commanders to headquarters for a meeting to discuss the retreat."
Before Chief of Staff Xiao Shen could speak, Tang Shengzhi spoke to the staff officer beside him.
Chief of Staff Xiao Shen sighed helplessly, but he knew that since it was the Chairman's order, even he had no choice but to obey.
At Yuhuatai, the Japanese 114th Division launched another attack.
This time, instead of attacking the flanks, they advanced directly on the front.
Both Suematsu Shigeharu and Isoda Saburo believed that the enemy should have suffered heavy losses after the previous fierce battles.
In fact, their judgment was not wrong.
However, Li Jianghe on the other side was using cheats.
By consuming merit points, Li Jianghe has replenished the lost troops.
At 1 p.m., amidst the sound of artillery fire, the Japanese 114th Division launched another attack.
The infantry advanced under the cover of artillery fire, stopping when they were less than 300 meters from the outer perimeter.
After ten minutes of continuous bombardment, thousands of shells had landed on the position, leaving the entire Yuhuatai area riddled with craters, resembling the craters on the surface of the moon.
As soon as the shelling ended, the Japanese troops began to surge, like a yellow mudslide, engulfing the land surrounding Yuhuatai.
But the closer the Japanese soldiers got to the position, the more they sensed something was wrong.
This time, they encountered no obstacles whatsoever.
"No gunfire? We're only a hundred meters away, isn't the enemy opening fire?"
Shigeharu Suematsu looked somewhat surprised.
Saburo Isoda said:
"Could it be that the enemy has already withdrawn due to heavy losses?"
"Impossible, the gates of Zhonghua Gate are always closed. Did they really fly over there?"
Shigeharu Suematsu denied this possibility.
At this moment, the Japanese attacking force was only fifty meters away from the front line.
The Japanese commander roared at this moment:
"Charge at full speed!!"
But at that very moment, the machine gun fire suddenly roared.
More than thirty heavy machine guns, concealed on the front and flanks, along with a large number of light machine guns, opened fire simultaneously.
Submachine guns and rifles also opened fire.
At such close range, the Japanese soldiers had nowhere to hide or avoid the hail of bullets, and in the blink of an eye, large numbers of them fell.
"Black Card Incident!! Banzai!!!!"
The Japanese troops did not retreat, but continued their charge after uttering such a roar.
The Japanese rear strongpoints, including heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, and Type 92 infantry guns, also provided support for the infantry at the front, striking any exposed Nationalist army strongpoints.
On the front lines, Lin Yongzhi, who was in command, shouted:
"Pay attention to shifting firepower; avoid being locked onto by Japanese artillery fire!!!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw an inexperienced machine gun squad being blown to the ground by grenades fired from Japanese grenade launchers.
However, some experienced veterans do this much better than the newly recruited machine gun squads.
They already had rich combat experience, and often knew that the Japanese were aiming at them when they heard the first whistling of a grenade. If the first shot missed, it was just to calibrate the trajectory, and the second shot had a very high hit rate.
Therefore, they do not rush to fire, but quickly move to the next pre-arranged position after finishing a belt of ammunition.
Below, Japanese soldiers trampled over the corpses of their fallen comrades, some charging forward and firing, others throwing grenades, while some veteran Japanese soldiers acted as snipers a hundred meters away, sniping any Nationalist soldiers who dared to peek out.
These Japanese veterans were extremely accurate marksmen; many soldiers were shot in the head by these veterans when they peeked out to fire.
Seeing the two sides clashing together, Suematsu Shigeharu felt much happier.
"The enemy cannot afford to engage in this kind of war of attrition. We still have plenty of troops, but the enemy's forces are almost exhausted."
As he said this, a cold smile crept onto his lips.
"Order the flank troops to launch an attack as well. Our army will then attack from three sides. Let's see if they can hold out."
"Hai."
Saburo Isoda replied.
Under the orders of Shigeharu Suematsu, the Japanese troops on the flanks also began to charge forward under the cover of artillery fire.
On the city wall, Gao Zhisong watched the surging Japanese army and secretly clenched his fists.
He rushed to the command post and saw Sun Yuanliang hanging up the phone.
"Commander, aren't you going to open fire? If you don't, Yuhuatai might not be able to be saved."
Sun Yuanliang looked up at Gao Zhisong and said coldly:
"No firing is allowed without my order. I'm going to a meeting at the garrison headquarters now. You keep a close watch on the city gates and don't let a single person in, not even friendly troops from Yuhuatai."
After saying that, he stood up and walked towards the door.
Watching him leave in his carriage, Gao Zhisong stomped his foot in anger and rushed towards the city wall.
Picking up his binoculars, Gao Zhisong saw that Sun Yuanliang's jeep had disappeared into the distance, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He turned around and said:
"Order the troops to open fire and support the defenders of Yuhuatai."
Upon hearing this, the staff officer lowered his voice and said:
"But didn't the commander say..."
Before he could finish speaking, Gao Zhisong grabbed his collar and pointed at Yuhuatai, saying:
"Look closely, what's flying above is the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag, and the people guarding it are our brothers, not those damn Japanese devils."
If you dare say another word, I'll throw you into the Qinhuai River right now to feed the fish!
After speaking, Gao Zhisong walked directly to a direct-fire cannon and opened fire on the advancing Japanese troops.
"boom!!!"
That cannon shot was the signal.