Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 181 Duan Yulin Stands Alone

With the advance detachment leading the way, the column's march was smooth, and it successfully crossed the Wufu Line and arrived near the Wuxi and Changshu lines.

The advance detachment reported that there was a Japanese cordon blocking the way ahead and they could not get through. They asked whether they could break through by force.

Yue Qianli checked the map and found that they had penetrated to the periphery of the main battlefield of both sides. At present, the two key points of Wuxi and Changshu were still in the hands of the national army;
The 11th Division and the 16th Division were besieging Wuxi, the 13th Division was attacking Changshu, and the 3rd Division was attacking the Xicheng Line from the water by ship. Their position was just east of the Xicheng Line.

This was the last line of defense of the Nationalist Army. Once it was breached, Nanjing City would be directly exposed to the Japanese army.

Precisely because this line of defense is of vital importance, more than 21 troops from the National Army's main forces, the 15st Army and the th Army, are fighting desperately with the Japanese army, killing and killing people, and rivers of blood are flowing.

He repeatedly checked the deployment of the enemy and our forces, and indeed there was no room for penetration, so he could only attack by force. When two enemies meet on a narrow road, the brave will win. Thinking of this, his eyes became firm, and he said to Chief of Staff Liu Zhongyuan:
"Telegram Liao Jianping, prepare for a strong attack, start the battle at 5 a.m., and tear through the enemy's defenses in one fell swoop.

The main force will set out after dark to move towards the first detachment. Once a gap is broken, the entire column must rush out of the Japs' cordon within two hours. This time, I'm going to fight my way out!"

Chen Zhongyuan left excitedly. These words sounded very exciting. He had to go to the secret signal room immediately to send a message to Lao Liao.

Kunshan, the Fourth Detachment Headquarters
As the 9th Division's troops approached, the atmosphere in the command center became tense. The two sides had already exchanged fire on the periphery, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Duan Yulin said to the first battalion leader Song Yunhan (who was transferred from the first team):
"Old Song, the main force has not yet broken through the Japanese blockade, so we can't expose ourselves too early;
According to the information sent back by the reconnaissance squadron, the Japanese that appeared in the outer defense zone were only the vanguard battalion of the 9th Division.

After arriving, they did not build field fortifications but instead divided their troops into two groups and launched an attack on the defense line of the Fourth Guerrilla Battalion. How arrogant!
I decided to counterattack the Japanese with an attack, to confuse them;

You lead the first battalion to launch a counterattack from the left wing, the second battalion from the right wing, and the third battalion to launch a counterattack from the north. The battle will start at 12 noon!"

Song Yunhan excitedly took the order and left. He had long disliked these Japs. They dared to launch an attack with only a few hundred people. They did not take them seriously at all.

East of Kunshan, at the defense line of the 4th Guerrilla Battalion, the main force of the Xiaoqiao Battalion of the th Division was launching a fierce attack. The th Guerrilla Battalion was fighting desperately. The front of the position was filled with the corpses of the Japanese, and the th Battalion also suffered many casualties.

Several battalions of the Fourth Detachment were drawn from other battalions. Considering that it would be difficult for them to stay and continue the guerrilla warfare, the other battalions were all the most combat-effective battalions, and they were filled with many veterans, so it was not difficult for them to fight against hundreds of Japanese devils.

On the contrary, Major Kobashi felt very embarrassed and drove his soldiers to attack the defenders' defense line. He was driven back several times and suffered hundreds of casualties. Major Kobashi was so angry that he cursed:
"Bakayalu, you are a bunch of rubbish. You have brought shame upon the Martial Master Group!

I will give you one more chance, you must break through the Chinese defense line, otherwise you will die."

When Captain Suzuki Terukichi saw that the captain had given him a death order, he immediately took off his military cap, took out a sanitary napkin and tied it on his head, bowed to Major Kobashi, and then left with his sword slung over his shoulder.

More than ten minutes later, the Japanese launched another attack. Captain Suzuki, wearing a sanitary napkin, rushed to the front and did not take the defenders seriously at all.

It's not that Suzuki is stupid, but he has calculated the attack distance. Now their skirmish line is about 150 meters away from the front line of the defenders. It is difficult to hit the target at this distance. He is just pretending to be cool for Major Kobashi. "Damn it, do I have no shame?"

Sniper Gu Qingjie muttered something in his heart. He estimated the distance. This distance was a millimeter difficulty for him, so he decided to use him as a sacrifice. Such a vain person would not be allowed in front of the Fourth Guerrilla Detachment.

Gu Qingjie's mind followed his thoughts, and the bullet flew out of the gun, hitting the red center of Suzuki's sanitary napkin. The other devils were so scared that they all fell to the ground;
Only Captain Suzuki stood there unwillingly, puzzled - "With so many people around, why did they hit me?"

Kunshan is too flat, and there are not many places suitable for blocking the Japanese. Yanjiapo is one of the few high grounds, which is located on the road leading to the county town.

The Fourth Guerrilla Brigade built field fortifications on the slope to block the Xiaoqiao Brigade. Snipers such as Gu Qingjie were allowed to shoot and kill important targets at any time.

Gu Qingjie set a good example, and other snipers followed suit, killing more than a dozen Japanese soldiers in total.

Since Captain Suzuki was sniped and killed, Captain Uchino Sohei of the Second Squadron took over the command. Seeing that the Chinese were only firing sporadically, he did not take it seriously and ordered the Japanese to continue the attack.

When the Japanese skirmish line advanced to within a hundred meters, the defenders' positions rang out with gunfire, including Type 92 heavy machine guns, Type 99 light machine guns, and Type 38 rifles. Those who didn't know would have thought it was an "internal conflict" among the Japanese.
The Japanese in Xiaoqiao Battalion fought back with the same weapons. The bullets from the Type 92 heavy machine gun were poured onto the defenders' positions like crazy. The two Type 92 infantry guns bombarded the defenders' firepower points unscrupulously, causing the defenders' casualties to increase sharply.

Captain Uchino was much more cautious than Captain Suzuki. When he saw that the defenders' firepower was suppressed, he drove his soldiers to continue the charge, while he himself hid in a bomb crater. He did not want to follow in Captain Suzuki's footsteps.

Although the current 9th Division is mainly composed of replacement troops, their combat effectiveness is still higher than that of the defenders;

The Fourth Guerrilla Battalion only took advantage of the terrain, and the Japanese were not equipped with mountain or field artillery, so the two sides fought to a draw and suffered casualties on both sides.

Just when the two sides were fighting fiercely, fierce gunfire suddenly broke out from the two wings of the Japanese, and Major Kobashi's face changed;
Before he could react, the reinforcements on both wings embedded themselves into the Japanese attack formation like two pairs of pliers. This was the most deadly pincer attack.

The captain of the fourth guerrilla battalion on the front line saw that the reinforcements had arrived and shouted excitedly:

"Bugler, blow the charge horn, and kill the devils with me!"

The soldiers had been holding back for a long time, and when the loud charge sounded, the defenders rushed out of the trenches one after another, rushing towards the Japanese like tigers descending from the mountains, shouting and killing, which made the Japanese terrified.

The Japanese troops of Xiaoqiao Battalion were quickly defeated under the pincer attack from three sides. The pincer attack from both wings cut off most of the Japanese troops and then surrounded and annihilated them from three sides.

At the same time, a part of the troops were dispatched to pursue the remaining Japanese troops on the periphery and killed them in a crushing defeat.

"Captain, run quickly, the Chinese are coming to kill us!"

(End of this chapter)