Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 143 Commander of the Songhu Guerrilla Column
Kyoto, Imperial Palace, the roar made the whole island shake, those who didn't know thought it was an earthquake

Yuren's anger could no longer be suppressed, and even Konoe Fumimaro did not dare to say a word, even though he knew there was something fishy going on, which was dissatisfaction with Matsui Iwane and the idea of ​​using the opportunity to put Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko on the throne;
Everyone knows what Sima Zhao is thinking. This is a struggle between the imperial power and the cabinet power. Konoe Fumimaro will not give in easily, so Yu Ren can only continue to vent:
"Baka! It's ok that the Chinese wiped out a whole field regiment, but they also seized the regiment flag. As the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, Matsui Iwane has an unshirkable responsibility. He is no longer fit for the job—"

Konoe Fumimaro naturally couldn't let Yuren say the rest of the words. He said that he was serious and there would be no room for redemption by then, so he interrupted him and said:
"Your Majesty, changing generals before a battle has always been a taboo in military strategy. Lieutenant General Yoshika Ryosuke has an unshirkable responsibility for the destruction of the Seventh Regiment. He was too careless.
The Chinese troops left north of the Suzhou River were not just a battalion in the Sihang Warehouse, but more than 10,000 people, all of whom were top-notch elite troops. The intelligence department ignored this point, which led to the tragedy.

In the Songhu battlefield, where nearly one million people fought, it was inevitable that two or three thousand people would be lost. Mr. Matsui commanded 200,000 people to drive the 700,000 Chinese troops out of the city. His contribution was great, and a small loss would not affect the overall situation. "

"Bakayaloo, the Empire can afford to lose 3 warriors, but the loss of the flag of the Seventh Regiment is unforgivable!

The honor of the royal family must be washed with blood. I will give Yoshika Ryosuke another chance. The 527th Division will return to the city and annihilate the th Regiment. Yue Qianli must be found alive or dead."

Yuren's last sentence was almost shouted out at the top of his lungs. Konoe Fumimaro still did not give face to the royal family, so he could only vent his anger on the Chinese people.

When Konoe Fumimaro saw that Yuhito had made concessions, his expression immediately changed to one of gratitude, and he was almost kneeling on the ground to lick Yuhito's toes.

Yu Ren waved his hand impatiently to send him away, and then began to think about how to use this matter to force the cabinet to make concessions. Such a great feat as occupying Nanjing must be led by the royal family, and Matsui Iwane is not yet qualified to do so.

North of Suzhou River, at the headquarters of the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Yoshika Ryosuke was on pins and needles. The disaster of the 7th Regiment dealt him a heavy blow.

If only the 7th Regiment was annihilated, it would not be a big deal at all. It would not be difficult for the 9th Division to gather two or three thousand reinforcements. But now even the military flag has been lost, which is no longer a small matter and may even cause him to retire early.

Now the military flag has been sent to Jinling City. The whole world knows about it. Even the headquarters has chosen to remain silent. Now it depends on the attitude of the royal family.

The days of waiting were extremely torturous. Yoshika Ryosuke's hair turned white almost overnight. His future in the army was definitely over. Someone had to take the responsibility, and there was no one more suitable than him. It all depended on whether he could preserve the family's honor.

Nakagawa Hiroshi hurried in with a heavy telegram in his hand. Yoshika Ryosuke didn't even dare to face it.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, here's an urgent message from Commander Matsui!"

Yoshika Ryosuke originally wanted to let Nakagawa Hiroshi read it, but he couldn't help but take it over. After reading it quickly, he finally breathed a sigh of relief - he still had one last chance!

Although his division commander was demoted to acting commander, the royal family and the headquarters still gave him a chance to save himself. As long as he eliminated the 527th Regiment, he could preserve the honor of his family, retire and return home to enjoy his old age without having to go to military court again.

"Yue Qianli! I'm not done with you—

Nakagawa-kun, assemble the troops!"

Ji Jialiangfu completely hated Yue Qianli and the 527th Regiment. The Tenth Army was about to land in Hangzhou Bay, and the Empire was about to start a carnival mode. Unfortunately, all of this had nothing to do with him.

The 9th Division might be able to catch up with the Battle of Nanjing, but Yoshika Ryosuke would probably never be able to see Nanjing City in his lifetime. Thinking of this, he wished he could tear Yue Qianli into pieces.

He had no doubt about annihilating the 527th Regiment, but what he was most worried about was that Yue Qianli would lead his troops to break out, so he had to hurry to block the 527th Regiment's escape route to the north.

After receiving the order to annihilate the 527th Regiment, he first asked the headquarters for tactical guidance. Matsui Iwane agreed to send Shigeto's detachment to guard Yunzaobang. In this way, the 527th Regiment was blocked in the urban area south of Yunzaobang and north of Suzhou River.

To the east and northeast is the sea and the Japanese concession, which is blocked by the Marines;

To the north was Yunzaobang, where the Shigeto Detachment had a heavy fortification, and to the west and south was Suzhou Creek;
The Japanese have four divisions north of Suzhou River, confronting hundreds of thousands of Chinese main forces across the river. The 527th Regiment is now unable to escape.

In order to prevent the 527th Regiment from sneaking into the International Settlement, the petty Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned the concession authorities that if a Chinese soldier entered the concession, the Japanese army would enter the concession without hesitation to hunt him down. The concession authorities were so scared that they quickly sent troops to block the passage from the Chinese area to the concession. After a day of mobilizing troops, Yoshika Ryosuke, with the cooperation of the East China Expeditionary Army Headquarters and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Imperial Headquarters, completed the tactical encirclement of Yue Qianli and the 527th Regiment.

Naturally, the actions of the Japanese army could not be hidden from the eyes of the Blue Shirts Society and CC. They passed the information that the devils were gathering heavy troops to encircle and suppress the 527th Regiment to Yue Qianli through two liaison officers, Lin E and Zheng Pingru. This could be regarded as a favor they paid to Yue Qianli.

In order to allow the 527th Regiment to tie down more Japanese troops in the city, the Military Commission not only did not allow them to break out, but also gave Yue Qianli the title of commander of the Songhu Guerrilla Column, but did not specify his rank.
To put it bluntly, it is just a fake seal. Its only benefit is that it can control the Kuomintang soldiers who were scattered in the urban area.

Yue Qianli always liked to use chicken feathers as a token of authority, so he was naturally even happier when he was given a carrot stamp, and he used it immediately:

"Brothers, there are still many scattered brothers in the city, especially in the concessions, where a large number of veterans and wounded are stranded. They have a hard life in the concessions, and it won't be long before they become thugs for big and small gangs.
When the country is in crisis, these tough guys should be allowed to fight the Japanese!
Yaqin hurriedly wrote an article calling on the veterans to gather at the headquarters building, and Zheng Pingru contacted the Blue Shirts Society to publish it in the newspapers in the concession.

Tell them that everyone who reports here will be given 10 yuan, those with injuries will receive free treatment, and three meals a day will be provided.

The second battalion will be responsible for recruiting soldiers in the Chinese area. As for the scattered veterans, the third battalion will be on guard outside. We will give everyone three days to gather as many as we can!"

Everyone took the order and left. Lin E and Zheng Pingru, the liaisons of the two major secret agencies, could come in handy. The Blue Shirts Society and CC had extensive connections in the International Settlement and even in the Japanese Concession. They would fully cooperate with the orders of the Military Commission.

Once the propaganda machine of the Political Department was put into operation, within a day, the whole of Shanghai knew that the anti-Japanese hero Yue was recruiting soldiers. The government also asked the old soldiers who had been dispersed to return to the army and gave each of them 10 silver dollars. As a result, more and more stranded old soldiers gathered in the direction of Hongkou.
The concession authorities were already troubled by these vagrants who had no place to live, and now that someone was willing to take them in, they were overjoyed. Not only did they open the door wide for them, they also sent police to drive them away, so that they could have an explanation for their daily lives.

Naturally, the Japanese could not hide this matter, but they turned a blind eye to it. The reason was simple: they had no way to eliminate the Japanese who were stranded in the concessions, but they could be wiped out as long as they entered the Chinese area.
Anyway, many of these people were wounded, and they had no weapons or food. Driving them to the 527th Regiment would just consume their food and supplies.

Japan had only one request to the concession authorities: to allow exit but not entry, and that the detained 524th Regiment of Xie Jinyuan must not be released, as they were very wary of these elite Central Army troops.

The 527th Regiment was making every effort to gather the scattered soldiers, while the th Division was methodically tightening the encirclement. The Marine Corps Command in the Japanese Concession also cooperated. They blocked the Japanese Concession and set up machine guns, and also allowed exit but not entry.

In order to cut off the source of the trouble, the Japanese also spread the news in the Chinese area that the Japanese army would encircle and annihilate the 527th Regiment in the Chinese area, and all citizens must evacuate within one day, either to the International Settlement or the Japanese Concession;

The Japanese Concession and the International Settlement will be closed one day later, and those who remain in the Chinese area will be regarded as resistance elements and will be killed without mercy.

After three months of fierce fighting, most of the citizens who were stranded in the Chinese area had fled to the concessions. Now the devils issued a murderous order to kill, which frightened the remaining citizens and made them flee to the concessions. The concessions did not stop them, but only strictly checked them, and no men without citizen ID cards were allowed to enter;

The reason why the Japs did this was to shut the mouths of the Western powers. Now they can bombard the blockade area with all their might. They are all resistance elements, and the Western powers are not allowed to interfere.

At the East China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, Matsui Iwane showed a fox-like smile on his face, and Chief of Staff Mamoru Iinuma said in a very playful manner:
"Your Excellency the Commander is indeed an expert on China. This tactic of pretending to build a plank road while secretly attacking Chencang is so good that even the reborn Chinese military master would have to admit defeat."

Matsui Iwane said proudly:
“Now the whole world thinks that the Imperial Army’s target is Yue Qianli’s 527th Regiment. They have all been deceived by my tactical deception;

It's just a small regiment, how could it be worth the empire's trouble? The warriors of the Seventh Regiment have already returned to the Yasukuni Ghost Toilet, and the empire can still afford the loss of 3,000 warriors.

So what if the regiment flag is lost? At most, Your Majesty can give us another one. If there is no 7th regiment, we can organize a 117th regiment. It is not a big deal for the empire. The Chinese people will just treat it as a treasure and display it everywhere. "

Major General Iinuma Mamoru took over and said:
"The Shanghai Expeditionary Force has only one goal, which is to capture the hundreds of thousands of elite Chinese troops south of the Suzhou River. We will use the battle in the urban area to attract the attention of the Chinese people, cover the landing of the Tenth Army in Hangzhou Bay, and capture Songjiang at lightning speed to cut off the enemy's retreat. This is the key to the victory of the Shanghai War - it's great!"

After Iinuma Mamoru finished speaking, the two of them laughed triumphantly, as if victory was just around the corner.

(End of this chapter)