Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 113 Forced to Retreat
As the 19th Regiment, which was responsible for the main attack, retreated, the 7th and 35th Regiments also hastily ended their attacks. They now had no psychological pressure to retreat.

The commander of the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Yoshika Ryosuke, seemed to have let it go. Although he had high hopes for this attack, he was no longer angry after the defeat and even made excuses for them:
“Yoshi, you have done your best and inflicted great damage on the 88th Division;
Nakagawa-kun, order the artillery to continue bombarding and destroy all the exposed firing points of the Chinese!"

He himself didn't believe what he said, but this was a good step. After the infantry charged, the artillery bombarded - nothing wrong!

This was just a tentative attack. Although the casualties were greater, it also made the Chinese pay a heavy price. In his opinion, it was at most a draw.

He now felt that it was not shameful to fight a tie with the 88th Division. This was the guard army of the National Government and deserved the respect of the th Division!

The Japanese are like this. When you can inflict enough damage on them, they will respect you. So dignity is earned through fighting.

Rows of artillery shells roared towards the positions of the 264th Brigade. The Japanese, who had suffered a loss in the infantry charge, hoped to get back at the artillery.
The defenders did not have the strength to fight them, so they had to huddle in the anti-gun caves and endure it silently. They were used to it, and as long as they were still alive after the bombardment, they would rush out to continue fighting and never give up!
"Captain, the damn devils are throwing bombs again. The infantry can't defeat them, so they use bombs to retaliate. This is not a moral code."

The term "dishonesty in martial arts" was learned by the deputy regiment lieutenant colonel Tian Xiyuan from Yue Qianli. It is quite appropriate to use it here. Yue Qianli chuckled and said:

"Old Tian, ​​the Japs are not stupid. Aircraft and artillery have always been their advantages. On the battlefield, they will definitely play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. If they are rich, they will use artillery fire to cover the enemy, and if they are poor, they will use tactics to intervene. If I had the advantage in firepower, I would not follow the ethics of war!

Therefore, facing the Japanese's firepower advantage, a simple positional battle is very difficult to fight, and even if the position is defended, the losses will be great;
To deal with the Japs who have firepower advantage, we cannot always confront them head-on. We must move, use mobile warfare to mobilize the enemy, find opportunities to annihilate the enemy during the movement, and concentrate our forces to annihilate part of them. "

It was difficult for Tian Xiyuan to respond to this. Yue Qianli was in great favor with the emperor and could speak without restraint, but he dared not. Positional warfare was the major strategy set by the national government, and even if he had nine points, he dared not say more.

"Captain, it is the duty of a soldier to obey orders. The order we received was to defend Yunzaobang to the death. One hundred thousand troops have been defending it strictly, which broke the devil's dream of destroying China in three months.

From this point of view, there is nothing wrong with the government’s strategy.”

Tian Xiyuan cleverly changed the subject. He was very satisfied with Yue Qianli as the team leader, so he didn't want him to cause trouble.

Yue Qianli has not been so cautious since he became the regiment commander. It is normal for the main commander of the 88th Division to be a little arrogant. As long as he can fight, he will be valued by the national government. Being too low-key will arouse suspicion.

"Old Tian, ​​it is necessary to defend Yunzaobang. Without positional warfare, how can we stop the enemy's attack and consume their strength? I just told you to use tactics flexibly.
The situation of the army is ever-changing, and the shape of water is ever-changing. We cannot be obsessed with one tactic, and we should not be afraid of the enemy's planes and artillery. They throw their bombs, and we throw our grenades. "

Yue Qianli's habit of being a teacher came back again. He always subtly influenced the people around him. Tian Xiyuan also agreed with Yue Qianli's words and said immediately:
"The gap between us and the devils is obvious, but we have to fight. It is better to die in glory than to live in disgrace."

As for the enemy's bombardment, they could only grumble and silently endure it. The gap between the two sides was all-round, and it was not something that could be narrowed by a few rocket launchers. All he could do now was to keep fighting and hold on until the strategic stalemate stage arrived.

As long as he is given a relatively independent space for development, he will have the confidence to change the situation of being passively beaten. At that time, the Japanese will attack their howitzers and he will attack their rocket launchers.

Six doors won’t have much impact, but what about sixty doors?
A playful smile appeared on Yue Qianli's lips. The supplies he stored in the International Settlement were enough for him to set up a rocket artillery battalion.

Covering the area with hundreds of 107mm rockets at a time made him excited just thinking about it. Even an entire division could not withstand several rounds of rocket artillery fire from him.

Yue Qianli originally thought that the Japs would launch a group charge after their firepower was accurate, but he overestimated Yoshika Ryosuke, and the second attack was only at the battalion level, which meant that they were hurt.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

"Itaya!"

The Japs made a lot of noise, but they only deployed a few hundred troops, and they controlled the distance of the exchange of fire very well. The intensity was much lower than the first time, so the defenders easily blocked them, and the two sides fought a tacit battle.

The 101st Division and the 13th Division did not have so many concerns. Their offensives were wave after wave, and they even called for air support. Both sides were blood-thirsty and casualties soared.

As the defenders' manpower was increasingly depleted, the weakness of the long snake formation gradually became apparent. The reserve troops in their hands became fewer and fewer, and the ammunition and supplies could no longer keep up. The depth of the defense was shortening, and the previously solid defense line began to loosen.

After several days of consumption, more than half of the three frontline regiments of the Tax Police Corps had been killed or wounded, and Sun Liren had requested reinforcements from Huang Jie.

Although Huang Jie also gave them some reinforcements, he was hurt and his confidence in defending Yunzaobang began to waver. He had already made up his mind to retreat.

The other divisions of the 18th Army also suffered heavy casualties. These were all the direct troops of the Central Army, and the National Government would certainly not watch them being wiped out.

What made the Nationalist government happy was that the five divisions of the 21st Army of the Gui Army had already arrived at the Dachang front line. There was no need to fight to the death at Yunzaobang. The Central Army, which had suffered more than half of its casualties, was allowed to withdraw and the Gui Army, whose morale was high, was sent to take over. This was in line with the Nationalist government's combat strategy.

The Military Commission issued an order to abandon Yunzaobang and withdraw the main force westward;
This was equivalent to giving up the Yunzaobang line and retreating to the Nanxiang, Dachang and Jiangwan line. The 88th Division continued to hold Jiangwan.

The 18th Army, the main force before, had been depleted and no longer had any major combat missions, but only assisted the 21st Army in defending Jiangwan.

The main force of the 11th Army Group continued to hold the areas west and south of Luodian, fighting against the 5th Division and part of the rd Division. Almost all of the Japanese army's five divisions and one detachment were deployed to the left and center battlefields.

The 264th Brigade also received an order to retreat, but they were not ordered to go to Jiangwan to join the division headquarters. Instead, they retreated to the junction of Dachang and Jiangwan to assist in the defense of Dachang.

When Yue Qianli received the telegram of withdrawal, he did not say much. The defenders along the Yunzaobang line suffered heavy casualties, and some divisions even lost their entire strength. Active retreat might not be a bad thing. He just did not expect that the 264th Brigade would also assist in the defense of Dachang. He remembered that in another time and space, it should be the 262nd Brigade that assisted in the defense, and finally the 524th Regiment stayed behind to guard the Sihang Warehouse.

Yue Qianli was not only impressed in his heart that the time traveler really had the aura of a protagonist, and did not miss a single battle. The Japanese did not expect the Chinese to retreat on their own initiative, and immediately sent a fleet of aircraft to bomb along the way, causing a large number of casualties to the defenders;

The National Army seemed to be very bad at retreating. They had been fighting well before, but once they received the order to retreat, no one was willing to stay behind and they all ran for their lives. An orderly retreat turned into a rout, with the loss of thousands of people. This was just the retreat to the Dachang line.

Yue Qianli was also speechless. Under his suggestion, the 264th Brigade held out until after dark before retreating, so they suffered almost no casualties.

After the 264th Brigade retreated to the right wing of Dachang, the brigade commander Gao Zhisong received a telegram from the army commander Sun Yuanliang, asking them to move closer to Jiangwan if Dachang was no longer defensible, to unite the troops and make other plans. It was obvious that he had his own plans.

Gao Zhisong did not take it seriously, but called the two regiment leaders together to discuss defense. Although they were only assisting in defense, Gao Zhisong also took it seriously. After briefly informing them of the battle situation, he said in a firm tone:
"I will not elaborate on the importance of Dachang. Once Dachang is lost, the Ninth Army's retreat will be cut off. The best outcome is to retreat to the south of Suzhou River and hand over the city to the Japanese.

The battle line has returned to the situation before August 8.13, and the blood of hundreds of thousands of soldiers has been shed in vain, so my 264th Brigade will do its best to defend the flank of Dachang and will never let the Japanese flank the Dachang defenders. "

Yue Qianli and He Shixian both expressed their opinions. Gao Zhisong turned to Yue Qianli and said:
"Qianli, you have always been the most thoughtful and creative person. Do you have any good suggestions for holding our position?"

Yue Qianli had a God's perspective, he was very clear about the process and outcome of the Battle of Dachang. The 21st Army could have held Dachang for a period of time, but they had to fight the Japanese head-on, resulting in heavy losses, which left the Dachang defenders depleted of troops and they lost the city after just a few days.

The 21st Army's counterattack was correct. The main force of the Japanese army had just crossed Yunzaobang and had not yet established a firm foothold. They were also a long-time battle group. The Gui army was strong and had the support of five artillery regiments of the National Government's Central Army. If they had planned well, they could have dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese.
Unfortunately, their counterattack was too hasty. They fought the Japanese under the pressure of planes and heavy artillery without any tactics at all - it was a pity for those loyal and brave young men of Guangxi.

In this time and space, Yue Qianli led the reconnaissance platoon to use rocket launchers to destroy a heavy artillery regiment of the Japanese, but the enemy still had one, with 240 20mm heavy howitzers and 305 10mm heavy howitzers, with a range of more than 26 kilometers. The five artillery regiments of the Central Army were not enough;

Not to mention that there are more than 300 aircraft to assist in the battle. The difference in firepower between the two sides is so great that even a god cannot win the battle.

Yue Qianli's mood was not very high when he thought of these things. Now the high-ranking officials of the Guangxi clique were full of confidence and wanted to show the style of the Guangxi army and drive the Japanese who had not yet established a firm foothold into the river;

Seeing Gao Zhisong looking at him expectantly, he forced himself to speak:
"The Japanese have only a few tactics: frontal attack and flanking maneuvers. Once the Japanese army is blocked in the front, the right wing is their best choice for flanking.

There is no trick in defensive warfare. You just need to build fortifications based on the terrain, keep enough reserves, and launch a few counterattacks when you get the chance. This way, you can make the Japanese pay a high price. "

Gao Zhisong thought for a moment and said:

"You and Brigade Commander He, who will be responsible for defense and who will be responsible for counterattack?"

Yue Qianli looked at He Shixian very sincerely and said:
"Senior, according to the plan proposed by me, the 527th Regiment should be responsible for the defense, and the 528th Regiment should be responsible for the counterattack;
We all know that defending a position would result in much greater casualties, but this time I shamelessly asked my senior to lead the brothers from the 528th Regiment to take the lead in defending the position, while the 527th Regiment would be responsible for counterattacking.

Counterattack is very important. It determines whether we can hold our position. The attack power of the 528th Regiment cannot compare with that of the 527th Regiment—"

He Shixian raised his hand to stop Yue Qianli from speaking, and then said in a firm tone:
"I understand what you mean. No need to say more. The 528th Regiment will be in charge of the defense this time. I hope you can send some backbones to guide us in building fortifications. This is your strong point."

Yue Qianli stated on the spot:
"Not only must the 527th Regiment send key members to assist the 528th Regiment in building field fortifications, but the entire regiment must also dig along. Two regiments will naturally dig faster than one!"

Gao Zhisong and his two team leaders reached a consensus and made the decision on the spot:
"Okay, it's settled. This is what we call unity of purpose. The military situation is urgent. We will end this meeting here and the entire brigade will start to act like groundhogs!"

Yue Qianli and He Shixian nodded heavily. In order to assist the 528th Regiment in defending its position, Yue Qianli also contributed the Flying Thunder Cannons of the 527th Regiment to form an artillery group commanded by Li Boxi, the machine gun company commander of the st Battalion. He Shixian was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

The main position of the 264th Brigade was a small hill on the east side of Dachang Town. The altitude was not high, but it was much better than the depression. It was more than enough to accommodate a regiment, which just protected the right wing of Dachang Town.

Following Gao Zhisong's order, the entire brigade began to dig trenches. During this period, the main forces of the Japanese army crossed Yunzaobang one after another. The first to cross the river was the 9th Division. They established a defense line of more than one kilometer on the south bank to cover the crossing of the river for other divisions.
The Japanese army did a good job in this regard. The 9th Division, which was the first to cross the river, did not attack rashly, but switched to defense on the spot to prevent a counterattack by the national army.

The 264th Brigade was preparing day and night to defend the big field, while the main force of the National Army was mobilizing troops and preparing to launch a large-scale counterattack. The protagonist was naturally the 21st Army Group led by Liao Lei.

After the Battle of Shanghai broke out, Li Delin, a leader of the Guangxi clique, ordered the 7th and 48th armies of the Guangxi Army to march north to fight against the Japanese.

The 7nd Division of the 172th Army assembled in Wuzhou on August 8 and set out first, taking a ship to Guangzhou and then a train to Wuhan and then to Xuzhou for assembly;
The 170th and 171st Divisions set out from Liuzhou, and the 48rd, 173th and 174th Divisions of the 176th Army set out from Guilin. They walked lightly to HY City, took a train in Hengyang, and arrived at Hankou along the Yuehan Line. They then took the Pinghan Railway train through Wushengguan into Henan, along Xinyang to Zhengzhou, and then took the Longhai Railway train from Zhengzhou to Xuzhou via Kaifeng.

On September 9, the troops completed their deployment between Xuzhou and Lianyungang in accordance with the order of the Military Commission.

10月11日军委会正式组建第21集团军，下辖第7军和第48军，廖磊任司令员；

On the day of its formation, it was ordered to go to the front line, with the 48th Army going first and the 7th Army following behind, and they marched towards Shanghai on foot. By October 10, the 19th Army and the 48st Division of the 7th Army had arrived in Songhu one after another, while the 171th and 170nd Divisions received orders to stand by in Wuxi before entering the urban area of ​​SH, and then turned to Wuxing to carry out blocking missions.

In other words, the Gui army that arrived at the Songhu battlefield consisted of a total of 4 divisions plus 1 army headquarters, and each division had 2 brigades and 4 regiments, instead of the 6 divisions that circulated on the Internet later. Two divisions of the Seventh Army went to Wuxi.

Today's subscriptions are far less than the author's expectations, only 256 so far, but the promised extra chapters have been sent out. After all, there are more than 200 people who support the author's first subscription. Thank you. In the afternoon, two chapters were put together to form a large chapter of 4 words and sent out. Today's total is 10 chapters with 2 words. Starting tomorrow, I will update words a day. I still hope that brothers will support me.

Because two chapters are combined into one, the sequence number of the next chapter jumps by 2 chapters, but the content is coherent and does not affect the brothers' reading. I would like to explain this here.

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(End of this chapter)