Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 110: The Arrogant 101st Division
The 527th Regiment, which had completed its replenishment, was once again in a strong state. Although the quality of these replenishment soldiers could not be compared with the old soldiers before him, it was better to have them than not.
The backbone of the 527th Regiment is still there, and the military spirit is still there. After a few battles with the old leading the new, those who survive will become veterans. This is the "inheritance" of the army.

As long as a unit has not been annihilated, it means that the chief officer and backbone of the unit are still there. Even if the soldiers are replaced several times, the combat effectiveness will not be weakened, but will only continue to grow and become stronger. Those iron armies are forged in this way.
On the contrary, if an army is completely wiped out once, no matter how many people it recruits or how good its equipment is, it will no longer have a soul. Therefore, a war must be fought as a war of annihilation, and this has been proven countless times by history.

The 527th Division, th Regiment and the General Tax Police Corps on both sides of Yunzaobang were fighting a war of attrition. After replenishment, their combat effectiveness was still there, so no one could destroy the other for the time being. They could only continue to fight until one side could not hold on any longer.

Two days later, the Japanese reinforcements, the 101st Division, arrived, which increased the number of Japanese troops on the north bank of Yunzaobang from two divisions to three divisions, while the defenders did not receive any additional reinforcements, and the balance of victory gradually tilted towards the devils.

The 101st Division was a special division formed by the garrison troops and retired soldiers of the 1st Division. It was one of the first special divisions formed by the Japanese army since the "July 9 Incident". It was formed in China in early September and arrived at the Songhu battlefield in late September and was incorporated into the Shanghai Expeditionary Army.

下辖101旅团（步兵101联队、149联队）、102旅团（步兵103联队、157联队）以及骑兵、野炮兵、工兵、辎重兵101联队，另外还有几个补充兵大队；

Stimulated by the rapid progress on the battlefield in North China, retired soldiers in the Japanese country were enthusiastic and signed up to join the war, so the number of recruits was much higher than planned, and all the extra soldiers were incorporated into the supplementary soldier battalion.

This resulted in the first batch of special divisions being overstaffed, with a total number of over 3, even more than that of regular divisions.

This was also the reason why the division commander, Lieutenant General Ito Masayoshi, was so confident. He did not take the defenders on the south bank of Yunzaobang seriously at all, and arrogantly said to the chief of staff, Colonel Fukutaro Nishiyama:
"Xishan Fuku-kun, you are too cautious. The defenders on the south bank of Yunzaobang have been fighting hard for several days. They have suffered serious losses in manpower and equipment, and their morale is low. It is time for my 101st Division to make a name for itself.
The Ninth Division is known as the Military Division, but I don't think it's anything more than that. Since they haven't been able to take it down for a long time, let us take it.

Our morale is high right now, and this is a good opportunity to break through the Yunzaobang defense line and move our main force directly to the big field. Remember, our target is the big field!"

Colonel Fukutaro Nishiyama graduated from the 37th class of the Japanese Army Academy and served in the Kwantung Army for a long time. After the outbreak of the "September th Incident", Fukutaro Nishiyama assisted the commander of the nd Division, Lieutenant General Jiro Tamon, and Ryoji Ueno in formulating combat plans and participated in commanding operations. He has rich experience as a staff officer.

He had previously suggested to Lieutenant General Ito that troops should be used with caution, but his suggestion was rejected by the division commander who was eager to establish merit. As the chief of staff, he only had the right to make suggestions. Since the division commander had already made the decision, he could only shout and execute the order. Ito Masayoshi could not wait to launch an attack on the defenders.

The attack of the 101st Division was equally simple and crude, following the old routine of first launching an artillery bombardment.

Lieutenant General Ito had no intention of launching a tentative attack. He directly ordered the 101st Field Artillery Regiment to fire at the defenders. The breakthrough point they chose happened to be the defense zone where the Tax Police Corps was located.

Originally the 264th Division was responsible for the attack, but now it was handed over to them, and the th Division concentrated its forces to attack the positions of the th Brigade.

After the 101st Division launched its attack, the 264th Division did not rush to attack the th Brigade. The cunning Yoshika Ryosuke wanted to take advantage of the situation, so he let Lieutenant General Ito, a reckless man, clear the way for them.
Once the defenders' defense line showed signs of loosening, he would concentrate his forces and firepower to launch a thunderbolt attack on the 264th Brigade's defense line and cross the river before the 101st Division, so that they would still be the first to achieve the credit. Lieutenant General Ito also knew what Yoshika Ryosuke was up to, but he didn't care. He was confident that he could break through the defenders' defense line with one charge and make Yoshika Ryosuke suffer the consequences.
Watching the rows of shells smashing into the defenders' positions, causing dust to fly everywhere, and the defenders being unable to fight back, Lieutenant General Ito couldn't help but feel complacent:

"Yoshi, the Imperial Army's artillery is really powerful. In front of modern artillery, there is no unbreakable defense line. War is fought with firepower. Napoleon once said that artillery is the god of war!"

Seeing that Lieutenant General Ito was in high spirits, Nishiyama Fukutaro did not want to spoil his interest. Now that the infantry of the two regiments had assembled, he was also full of anticipation for the upcoming attack, so he took over the conversation and said:
"Your Excellency, the division commander is right. The role of artillery in war cannot be ignored. China is an agricultural country. Even rifles and bullets need to be imported, not to mention artillery.

The firepower of one division of the Empire is greater than that of one Chinese army group. Under such a fierce artillery attack, the defenders will lose at least 101% of their troops. The small Yunzaobang cannot withstand the attack of the st Brigade. The first attack to break through Yunzaobang must belong to you. "

"Xishan Fuku-kun, you and I are not participating in the holy war for personal achievements, but for His Majesty, for the Empire, and for the Yamato people!
Let us use the empire's cannons to build an immortal foundation for your majesty. Kill the chicken!"

Seeing that the time was right, Lieutenant General Ito gave the order for the infantry to attack. He was full of expectations for this attack.

South bank of Yunzaobang, Field Command Post of the Second Brigade of the Tax Police Corps
Sun Liren, the leader of the Second Brigade and the head of the Fourth Regiment, looked grim. Due to the poor command of the former leader of the Second Brigade, the Military Commission had replaced the leader at the last minute, and Sun Liren was now in charge of commanding the frontline operations.
The three regiments of the Second Detachment were deployed with two in front and one in the back, with the Fifth Regiment on the left, the Fourth Regiment on the right, and the Sixth Regiment serving as the reserve.

The other three regiments under the command of the commander-in-chief were deployed on the second line. They still had sufficient manpower, but the Japanese had increased their troops and their opponent was now an entire division. Obviously, the Japanese focused their attack on the defense zone of the Tax Police Corps because they were closest to the obara.

When a large number of Japanese troops rushed towards the position of the Second Detachment, Sun Liren decisively gave the order to fire. More than a dozen large and small artillery pieces of the detachment's artillery battalion fired crazily at the Japanese troops, knocking down groups of them to the ground.

The artillery of both sides was indeed not on the same level. When Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, the commander of the field artillery regiment, saw the artillery of the defenders appear, he immediately ordered artillery fire to suppress it;
The 101st Field Artillery Regiment had 48 field guns. Such firepower could not be withstand by a dozen artillery pieces. The defenders' artillery was soon suppressed, and the Japanese infantry took the opportunity to rush to the river bank.

"Fight! Kill those damn devils!"

Following the order from the commander of the 101st Battalion of the th Regiment, Zhao Tianci, the entire battalion opened fire, with hundreds of machine rifles raining bullets on the devils. The devils of the st Regiment fell to the ground in an instant, while the others who were not dead were pinned down on the river bank. The angry commander of the regiment, Colonel Kano Osamu, cursed:
"Bakayaluo, a bunch of cowards! Order the field artillery squadron to fire!"

(End of this chapter)