Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 118: The Fall of the Great Field
Western Front, 18th Division Headquarters of Hunan Army

The Japanese army has been deploying troops and targeting the positions of the 18th Division. For a time, the sky was filled with dark clouds.
Lieutenant General Zhu Yaohua, the division commander, raised his arm and shouted:
"Brothers, our entire division is determined to follow the example of the anti-Japanese heroes, promote the might of our country's army, and swear to live and die with the battlefield!"

Everyone echoed, and the enthusiasm for fighting was unprecedentedly high. At this moment, the roar of a fleet of aircraft was faintly heard in the air, and the shrill anti-aircraft whistles sounded between the positions. The brigade and regiment commanders strode towards their own battle positions, and a new round of attack began.

A few minutes later, a huge fleet of 177 bombers flew over the field, dropping bombs one after another from the sky, reducing rows of houses to ruins, and engulfing thousands of soldiers in the explosion.
In order to destroy the will of the Obara defenders, Matsui Iwane sent a large fleet of aircraft to help after receiving Yoshika Ryosuke's telegram for help. He dropped 160 tons of bombs in one breath, almost turning Obara town into ruins, with devastated land and completely destroyed houses.

As soon as the enemy's planes left, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack on Dachang in three directions. One of the directions, led by more than 40 tanks, attacked the 18th Division's defense areas, Hujiazhai and Tahe Bridge, from the flank;
Another route forced a crossing of Zoumatang from the front, and the third route feinted an attack on the defense line of the 264th Brigade. For a moment, the sound of gunfire rang out and the shouts of killing shook the sky.

The Japanese seemed to have lost their patience. The main force of the 3th Division was fully deployed, and the tanks of three divisions were concentrated. The main attack direction was exactly the defense area of ​​the 18th Division. The 101st Brigade accompanied the tank group in the attack.

This time, the Japanese army took advantage of the high mobility of the tank cluster and adopted a large-scale detour tactic to launch an attack on the flank of the 18th Division's defense zone. They drove straight in and soon reached Chenjiazhai, Meiyuanzhai and other places on the Nanxiang-Dachang highway. These key points were also the areas where the 18th Division focused its defenses.

The defensive pressure on the west line is much greater than that on the center and east lines, because they face pressure from both the front and flanks;

The defending forces only consisted of the 18th and 36th Divisions, with the 18th Division at the front and the 36th Division guarding the core position.

At Chenjiazhai, facing the rolling steel torrent, the soldiers of the 18th Division formed a large number of death squads and rushed to the enemy's tanks one after another;
Some of them hid in individual pits. When the Japanese tanks rumbled closer, they climbed out of the pits, swiftly slipped under the chassis of the tanks, detonated the cluster bombs on their bodies, and died together with the tanks.

Some groups of a dozen people ambushed on both sides of the road, and when the tanks approached, they attacked in groups. Although there were heavy casualties, they also blew up the Japanese tanks.

Unfortunately, there were too many Japanese tanks and a large number of infantry guards. Only a few were lucky enough to get close to the tanks, and most of them fell on the way to the attack.

Faced with the Japanese army's steel torrent, the soldiers, who lacked anti-tank weapons and experience, could only rely on their blood and courage to launch suicidal attacks, using dozens or even hundreds of people to exchange for a Japanese tank, and countless people fell in a pool of blood...

The flesh and blood bodies were ultimately unable to withstand the impact of the steel torrent. The Chen family's position was breached and an entire battalion of defenders suffered almost all casualties.

In order to tie down the main force of the 18th Division, the 36th Regiment also launched a fierce attack on the front. They forced their way across Zoumatang and rushed towards the defenders' positions in wave after wave. Artillery shells fell like raindrops. The defenders suffered heavy casualties and were unable to withdraw any troops to support the flanks.

The speed of the enemy tanks' attack was very fast, and they broke through several defense lines deployed on the flanks of the 18th Division in succession, causing heavy losses.

Commander Zhu had no choice but to order a retreat to the core position. He still underestimated the soldiers' fear of the tank cluster. In addition, there were tens of thousands of Japanese infantry. Once they received the order to retreat, the soldiers would habitually collapse.

The 36th Regiment of the 212th Division saw that the situation was not right and rushed to stop it, but the defeated soldiers were like a tide and the troops were in chaos and difficult to stop, and even they were dispersed;

The Japanese tank group took the opportunity to launch an attack into the depth of the Dachang position. The 36th Division fought desperately and temporarily stabilized the defense line.

However, Dachang was no longer indefensible. The Japanese attacked from multiple directions, and the main positions of the 18th Division and the Gui Army were successively breached.

In order to avoid being cut off by the Japanese troops on the flank, the main force of the 21st Army took the initiative to withdraw from Dachang, and then suffered a complete defeat and Dachang fell.

Having lost the position he had defended for so many days and witnessing his officers and soldiers retreating in panic, General Zhu Yaohua, commander of the 18th Division, was filled with grief and indignation, and had mixed feelings. Feeling deeply ashamed of his fellow countrymen, the government and the people, he pulled out his pistol and committed suicide for his country.

General Zhu was the first person to commit suicide on the Battle of Songhu to thank his fellow countrymen. He was also the highest-ranking general (Lieutenant General of the Army) who died for his country since the war began.

On the right wing, at the position of the 264th Brigade, Gao Zhisong had learned that the left wing and the central position had been breached one after another. Yue Qianli's words came true, and the Dachang that had been defended for several days was lost dramatically;
There was no need for the 264th Brigade to continue defending. He was not confident enough to rely on one brigade to stop tens of thousands of Japanese invaders.

The order to retreat was immediately issued. The 7th Regiment, which had already formed a feud with them, would naturally not let them go. After crossing Zoumatang, the vanguard battalion pursued the 264th Brigade relentlessly.
Gao Zhisong had already discussed the retreat route with Yue Qianli, so he ignored them and instead led the Japanese towards the ambush position of the 527th Regiment.

The Japanese vanguard battalion was chasing like crazy, and a single squadron dared to chase the main force of the 264th Brigade, completely ignoring the 264th Brigade.

The 527th Regiment was in ambush position. Li Jie led the first battalion to ambush on both sides of the main road. Not long after Gao Zhisong and others passed by, Duan Yulin, the third company commander in charge of alert, came over to report:
"Battalion Commander, the Japs are chasing us, about a squadron!"

Li Jie didn't laugh but angrily said:
"The damned ones are really crazy to the extreme. They dared to chase us with a squadron. They really don't know how to write the word death.

You three companies, get out of the way and let them come. I'm going to beat them to a pulp this time!"

Duan Yulin excitedly took the order and went. Naturally, they were responsible for setting up the trap. The first and second companies ambushed on both wings of the road in an inverted eight-character layout, waiting for the Japanese to fall into the trap.

Captain Nakata, who was chasing the defeated soldiers with all his might, had never thought that he would be remembered. The Chinese had already been defeated, and the defeat was like a landslide. Now it was just a competition of who had the faster legs. Military merits were everywhere. Captain Nakata ran until his face was red, but he was still urging loudly:
"Warriors, hurry up, the Chinese are ahead, chase them and kill them all!"

Li Jie would naturally not allow such arrogant devils to exist, and decisively gave the order to open fire;

The soldiers of the 1st and 2nd companies, who could not wait any longer, opened fire at the Japanese from both sides. Bullets rained down on the Japanese in Nakata Squadron, knocking down a large number of them in an instant.

Captain Nakata, who was lucky enough to be alive, broke out in a cold sweat and yelled:
"Enemy attack, kill the chicken!"

He chose to launch a counterattack, but was killed by ambushes on both sides. It was almost impossible to break through the front of the inverted eight-character formation, so the best option was to attack one wing.

The Japanese counterattack not only failed to achieve results, but also resulted in heavy casualties and the troops were dispersed;

The Japs turned around and fled as usual, but ran into the guns of the Third Company and most of them were killed or wounded. The remaining troops fled in all directions.

The first and second companies took the opportunity to attack from both wings and, together with the third company, surrounded the remaining soldiers. Captain Nakata also paid the price for his arrogance.

The entire battle lasted only a dozen minutes. The Nakata Squadron, which was eager for quick success and advanced recklessly, was completely wiped out, which frightened the other Japanese soldiers and caused them to stop their pursuit. The 264th Brigade successfully withdrew from the Dachang battlefield and even killed a foolish rabbit while raking grass.

(End of this chapter)