Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 123: City Reverse Eight-Character Ambush Formation
Due to the fierce battle at the headquarters building, the buildings on both sides of Sichuan North Road were almost destroyed by the Japanese heavy artillery, leaving ruins all over the ground, which also provided convenience for the first battalion to hide its troops;

Now the Chinese troops in the city have retreated to the south of Suzhou River, so Ando never thought that there were still Chinese people who dared to ambush them.

The arrogant Captain Ando even planned to hold a ceremony to take over the headquarters building, and the accompanying journalists were arranged. Retaking the headquarters building was a very meaningful thing for the Marine Corps.
How miserable they were when they were driven into the sea, and now they are returning in glory, with their queues as neat as if they were participating in a military parade in Kyoto Square.

"open circuit!"

After showing off, Captain Ando continued to advance towards the headquarters building, completely unaware of the black muzzles of guns sticking out from the ruins on both sides of the road.

Suddenly, a crisp gunshot rang out, and the bullet headed straight for Captain Ando. The old Japanese soldier deflected reflexively, and the bullet only hit another Japanese soldier, scaring him and shouting:
"Baga, enemy attack!"

Song Yunhan looked at Captain Ando with some regret, but he still shot it away. However, he was not upset, as this was just his order to fire;
Almost at the same time as he fired the gun, the machine guns and rifles ambushed on both wings could not wait to spray a hail of bullets at the Japs, knocking them to the ground in rows.

Most of the Japanese soldiers in Ando's squadron came from China, and many of them had never experienced actual combat. So when faced with the sudden fire attack, they were as immature as a group of rookies, panicking and at a loss, not knowing how to respond.

Only the veterans who had participated in the first or second Battle of Shanghai knew how to spread out to both wings and then counterattack.

Unfortunately, the rain of bullets was too dense, and the shooting was so accurate that people kept getting shot and falling, which exacerbated the chaos;
The situation cannot be controlled by a small number of veterans. The skills and tactics of both sides are not on the same level. Without the support of naval guns, the Marines are just a group of lambs to be slaughtered.

Although Captain Ando saved his life, he was extremely worried. Just a short while after the attack, more than half of Ando's squadron had been killed or wounded.

The remaining soldiers were also in a panic, lying on the ground and firing indiscriminately. Just as Ando was about to organize a counterattack, a dense array of long-handled grenades flew over his head.

Captain Ando turned pale with fear. He had experienced this kind of German-made grenade with incredible power. It had many fragments and a wide killing range. It could blow up a large area.

As a series of explosions sounded, more than half of the remaining Japanese soldiers were killed or injured, and they had almost no ability to fight back.

Li Jie, who was watching the battle from a distance, put down his telescope in a daze. The battle had lost its suspense. If it weren't for the need to leave some remnants to fish, he would have been wiped out with a single charge.

The "mosquito leg" of Ando's squadron naturally cannot satisfy the appetite of the first battalion. They now have nearly 2 people, and with sufficient capital, their appetite will naturally be big;
He used a company to ambush Ando's squadron, the main force of the battalion was responsible for attacking the reinforcements, and the main force of the regiment set up a larger pocket formation on the periphery. The target was naturally the main division of the army. The Marines with low combat effectiveness were not in Yue Qianli's eyes.

There were only a few dozen people left in Ando's squadron struggling to survive. They had no idea that the first company was letting them go, otherwise none of them would have survived.

The gunfire from the Sichuan North Road soon alerted the main force of the Japanese. Major Watanabe, the captain of the Fourth Battalion, led several hundred Japanese soldiers to reinforce along the main road.

They formed two attack formations and, led by several tanks, rushed forward with murderous intent.

The Japs' reaction naturally did not escape the attention of the outer scouts, and soon the news reached the battalion headquarters. The reconnaissance platoon leader came over in person to report:
"Commander, the devils have taken the bait!"

When Li Jie heard that there were hundreds of devils and tanks, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he shouted an order:

"Tell Duan Yulin to kill these bastards!"

The reconnaissance platoon leader excitedly took the order and left. As the reconnaissance platoon leader, he had to act as a communicator, but he did not feel embarrassed at all, as there were hundreds of Japanese devils around.

In the ambush area of ​​the first battalion, Duan Yulin still used the inverted eight-character formation, but this time they did not send anyone to seal the mouth;
His deployment was the second company on the left, the third company on the right, and the machine gun company in the middle. In order to avoid being discovered by the Japanese, the troops on both wings were spread out wide, more than 300 meters away from the main road.

When the Japanese were blocked, the ambushes on both wings quietly approached and surrounded them.

The gunfire from the headquarters became less and less frequent. Major Watanabe was extremely anxious, but he was always cautious and sent a search team to each wing to search for ambushes within a 100-meter area on both sides of the main road.

He himself rode in an armored vehicle and followed the tank squad to lead the way, with the infantry following closely behind, one squadron on the left and one squadron on the right, to quickly reinforce Ando's squadron.

When the Japanese tanks appeared in front of the machine gun company's blocking position, several rocket launcher teams that had been ambushed in advance suddenly opened fire on the Japanese tanks;
Rockets whizzed towards the tanks, accurately hitting the Japanese tanks and easily blowing them up.

Major Watanabe, who was in the armored vehicle, was dumbfounded. The four tanks he had high hopes for were easily destroyed. He was so frightened that he opened the door of the armored vehicle and jumped out. The armored vehicle was too obvious a target.

The attacker could easily blow up the tank, let alone the armored vehicle he was riding in. Not long after he jumped down, the only remaining armored vehicle was blown up by a rocket launcher.

Using a 40 rocket launcher to deal with the Japanese tanks was like using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken. Even Major Watanabe was so angry that he cursed:
"Bagayalu, anti-tank guns - enemy attack!"

To prove his judgment, dense gunfire sounded in front of him. The machine gun company, which had ambushed a large number of light and heavy firepower in advance, fired fiercely at the Japanese soldiers, knocking down dozens of them in an instant.
The other Japanese soldiers were so frightened that they lay on the ground and fought back. Since the Japanese soldiers were marching in a vertical direction, the frontal attack did not cause much damage to them.

Major Watanabe roughly guessed the intention of the defenders. These were obviously blocking troops, and their purpose was to buy time to annihilate the surrounded Ando Squadron.

After finding out the enemy's situation, Watanabe decided to leave a part of his army to contain the enemy in the front, and at the same time send troops to the two wings to bypass and attack the rear of the blocking troops.

This was also a tactic commonly used by the Japs, and it worked every time. Unfortunately, this time they encountered the inverted eight-shaped ambush formation carefully prepared by the 527th Regiment, and their troops that were flanking the wings soon ran into the firepower network.

The second and third companies on the two wings began to close in, killing the enemy's flanking troops and forcing them to retreat step by step, with corpses strewn all over the ground;
When intensive gunfire sounded on both wings, Major Watanabe finally realized that the Chinese were not trying to stop them, but were surrounding and attacking their reinforcements.

Now there were ambushes on three sides, and Watanabe's battalion was trapped and suffered heavy losses. In order to avoid being wiped out, he could only order a retreat behind him.

It is convenient for a column to spread out to both wings, but it is difficult to turn around. The inverted eight-character ambush formation is specifically designed to counter the "long snake formation" when the column marches;
If they spread out to the wings, they would crash into the "two strokes" of the inverted eight character. If they went forward, there would be machine gun company blocking them. If they turned around, they would be squeezed into a pile and be killed by fire from both sides, and they would be strictly restrained.

Major Watanabe had no better solution, so he had to retreat, trying to save as many as he could. Duan Yulin saw that the Japanese had been defeated, and shouted:
"Bugler, blow the charge - kill the Japs!"

The Watanabe Battalion was almost destroyed, with less than 4 people escaping the ambush, 1 tanks and 300 armored vehicle destroyed, and more than bodies left;

Then the first company launched an encirclement and annihilation campaign against the remaining enemies of Ando's squadron, and wiped them out in just over ten minutes, ending the campaign perfectly.

After destroying the besieged enemy, except for one company left to guard, the others quickly cleaned up the battlefield, killed all the Japanese, and took away all the weapons, equipment and supplies they carried;
After the results of the battle were counted, Duan Yulin reported to Li Jie:
"Battalion commander, we have killed 486 Japanese soldiers, destroyed 5 tanks and armored vehicles, seized more than 30 light and heavy machine guns, more than 300 long and short guns, and 22 grenade launchers. We cannot count the bullets and supplies for now. The machine guns on the armored vehicles and tanks have been removed."

Li Jie calculated in his mind that a battalion of the Japanese Marine Corps normally had more than 600 people, and he killed 486 of them, which could barely be considered annihilation. It was a good sign for the first victory in the battle, and he happily went to Duan Yulin and said:

"Brothers, you fought well. We hurt them. You have to hide the spoils well. The Japanese will definitely come for revenge. We need to be more vigilant and be prepared for street fighting with them."

The first phase of the combat plan was successfully completed. The rest depends on the reaction of the Japanese. This is just an appetizer. Lao Yue has a big appetite.

The new commander of the Third Fleet, the Japanese Marine Corps Special Command, Major General Iida Minoru, could no longer hold back and was about to move into the headquarters building;
He and the dead commander Okawauchi Denshichi were classmates at the Naval Academy. Before that, Major General Okawauchi Denshichi's career was obviously much smoother than his. He was assigned as the commander of the Shanghai Special Marine Corps early on, while he could only waste his time in the country.

He thought he would die of old age in the Sasebo Naval Port, but he did not expect that Okawauchi Denshichi would die in battle in China, and the army captured Shanghai. The god of luck finally descended upon him.

"Baka, why is that bastard Watanabe so slow? He has such a bad conscience!"

It's no wonder that he was annoyed. According to the time point, the Watanabe Battalion, as the vanguard, should have taken over the headquarters building long ago and lined up to welcome him.

At this moment, Lieutenant Colonel Saito Yoshio, the Chief of Staff, rushed in in a panic. Major General Iida shouted coldly:
"Baga, you look so flustered, do you still look like an imperial soldier? Report it immediately if there's anything wrong!"

Lieutenant Colonel Saito bowed and apologized quickly, then said:
"General, the Watanabe Battalion called and said they were ambushed by thousands of Chinese elites and suffered heavy losses. They requested tactical guidance."

"Baka, that idiot Watanabe must be looking for excuses for his failure. The Chinese people have retreated to the south of Suzhou River. There are only a few scattered soldiers in the city. Where did the thousands of Chinese elites come from?"

Major General Iida almost roared the last sentence. No wonder he was so angry. All his plans were disrupted.

Lieutenant Colonel Saito didn't dare to say much. The commander was angry and the other telegram in his hand had become a hot potato. His face looked as ugly as if he had shit in his crotch.

Iida was angry and kept greeting Watanabe's family. He didn't notice the abnormality in Saito's expression and kept scolding him until he ran out of words.

After Iida's anger had subsided a lot, he reported:
"The Akiyama Battalion discovered a large number of Chinese defenders in the Sihang Warehouse. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle, with more than ten Imperial Army casualties. Requesting tactical guidance."

Iida was completely furious. He was also informed of the dozens of casualties. He was making a fuss and then angrily yelled:
"That bastard Qiu Shan is getting more and more successful. He even dares to ask for tactical guidance for a small warehouse like Sihang. He has brought shame to the Qiu Shan family!"

As the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Saito still had to have his own opinions on military affairs, so he could only bite the bullet and say:
"General, judging from the enemy situation, the Chinese have not completely withdrawn to the south of Suzhou River. Most of the Watanabe Battalion was killed or wounded in the ambush. They also have artillery and a large number of heavy machine guns. Judging from the firepower configuration, it is at least a main force regiment. We must treat it with caution!

As for the Sihang Warehouse, it was only big enough to accommodate a few hundred people.
I suggest that we prioritize dealing with the Chinese in the direction of the headquarters building. Retaking the building is the top priority."

Major General Iida finally calmed down. Getting angry would not solve the problem. He needed to think about it carefully. After thinking for a while, he said:

"Saito-kun, retaking the headquarters building is a matter of honor for the Navy and cannot be entrusted to others, otherwise the Army will laugh at us.
The Akiyama Battalion is more than enough in the direction of Sihang Warehouse. I decided to concentrate my forces to eliminate the Chinese in the direction of Hongkou.

In order to better coordinate the operations of the various brigades, you will take over the unified command on my behalf. We must recapture the headquarters building and expel the remaining enemy troops."

Lieutenant Colonel Saito was immediately delighted after hearing this. Going to the front line to command several battalions in combat was definitely a rare opportunity for him. He could finally realize his ambition!

He immediately bowed deeply to Major General Iida and said with high morale:
"Hey, thank you for your training, Commander!"

After he finished speaking, he walked away with his command knife slung over his shoulder. He couldn't wait to go to the front line to establish merit. He didn't take them seriously as they were just a bunch of guerrillas who had won a battle by chance by taking advantage of Major Watanabe's paralysis.

The Shanghai Special Marine Corps was composed of only 5 battalions, each with more than 600 people. There was one battalion in the direction of Sihang Warehouse. The Watanabe Battalion had been crippled, and a battalion was left with Iida for emergency use. Only 2 fully-staffed battalions and the crippled Watanabe Battalion could be used for combat in the direction of the headquarters. The total strength was close to 1500 people, and they were also equipped with 8 tanks and a field artillery squadron.

Iida judged that the National Army that ambushed Watanabe's battalion was about a regiment, and with their strength they could completely defeat the National Army, so Lieutenant Colonel Saito was also full of confidence and divided into three groups to attack along the main road of Sichuan North Road.

The Watanabe Battalion served as the vanguard and accompanied the tanks to open the way, Saito followed closely behind with the Third Battalion, and the Second Battalion guarded the two wings. The three armies advanced in a V-shape, and the 500-meter area on the left and right wings was under the control of the Japanese to prevent the Chinese from launching another sneak attack.

Most of the blocks from the dock to the headquarters building had been destroyed by artillery fire, with only some concrete structures remaining. The destructiveness of the war was evident from the ruins everywhere.

At first, the Japanese army's advance was smooth, but gradually they were blocked by the armed personnel of Lingxing. They hid in the ruins and fired cold guns at the Japanese soldiers, knocking down a few of them from time to time.
At first, the Japanese would stop to fight back, and even sent out small groups to drive them away, but they were all ambushed without exception and suffered heavy losses.

After suffering several losses, the Japanese became smarter. They only drove away the harassment of small groups of troops, but did not pursue them. They focused on the direction of the headquarters.

When they approached the headquarters building, they finally encountered strong resistance, at least hundreds of people, and even a tank was destroyed.

The Japanese immediately stopped and went on the defensive on the spot. Saito was going to deploy his troops to engage in an offensive and defensive battle with the first battalion.

(End of this chapter)