Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 212: Street Fighting That Destroyed the Japs
In the nameless alleys of West City, dozens of Japanese soldiers rushed in with murderous intent. They were in groups of four and would break into any room they saw, burning, killing and looting under the pretext of searching for resistance members.

At first, most of the devils were relatively restrained. After all, they were still on the battlefield and were in danger at any time. When they saw the various tempting treasures in the house, the devils, who were afraid of poverty, began to loot;
He took whatever he saw, even women's colorful clothes, and tied them around his neck and took them away.

Lieutenant Ma Tian despised such unworldly behavior. He was only interested in gold, silver and jewelry, or at least hard currency like silver dollars.

But these valuables were very light and were taken away by the fleeing civilians. There was nothing else to rob. He was eager to rush to the North City. It was there that he could have a real carnival. So he cursed:
"Bakayalu, what are you doing with all this junk? Throw it all away!"

Sergeant Nagano Shinji looked at him nonchalantly, and just hummed in response to his order without throwing anything away. The other Japanese soldiers followed suit, and it was impossible to expect them to throw away the looted property.

Lieutenant Mata was very angry. These people were not like this before entering the city. He said what he meant and no one dared to disobey him. Now that he farted, he became furious and rushed up to slap a private first class in the face twice.

The corporal who was beaten had to bow his head and admit his mistake, but he was still reluctant to throw away the red cheongsam around his neck. It was made of silk, something he had never seen before in his life, so he planned to send it back to China for Huizi to wear.

Lieutenant Mata's authority was challenged again, and he drew his command knife, which frightened Shinji Nagano so much that he quickly came out to smooth things over:
"Mr. Mada, this little thing won't affect the battle. The warriors know their limits."

Asada took back the knife, but still raised his leg to kick the corporal. As long as he didn't use the knife, Nagano Shinji wouldn't care. This was the squad leader's power, and he didn't need a reason to hit a corporal.

Suddenly, a crisp gunshot was heard and the bullet hit Lieutenant Asada's big head, making Shinji Nagano break out in a cold sweat.

He reacted very quickly and soon found the approximate location of the gunman, which was at the end of the alley. He then raised his hand and fired a few shots. After emptying the magazine of his Nambu pistol, the other Japs rushed up with their rifles.

The dozen or so Japanese devils in the Nagano detachment did not take the Chinese seriously at all. Since the Chinese gunman killed their squad leader, they naturally could not let him go. Otherwise, even if they won the battle, they would still be held accountable.

When they reached the end of the alley, they heard the sound of machine gun fire from the flank, and Sergeant Nagano's first reaction was that he had been tricked;
Seeing several of their warriors being knocked down, the others retreated to the corner in fear.

An alert Japanese soldier took out a grenade, unplugged it, tapped it against the wall and threw it out. The other two Japanese soldiers used the thick smoke produced by the explosion to roll on the ground.
Two crisp gunshots were heard, but unfortunately they did not hit the Chinese machine gunners. They retreated after firing two rounds, and there was no one to be seen in the horizontal street either.

"Bakayaloo! This is not a job for a warrior!"

The Japanese machine gunner angrily fired at the empty alley to vent his anger. This battle was too frustrating.

Even more frustrating was yet to come. Unbeknownst to them, another head popped out from the roof and threw a grenade at them with a grin.
This scene happened to be seen by the sharp-eyed Sergeant Nagano, who only had time to roll to the ground to avoid the flying shrapnel.

The others were not as lucky as him. Three more fell. Now there were only five Japanese devils left in the entire team. More than half of them were lost, and not even a single hair of the defenders was killed.

Shinji Nagano was furious to find that they had fallen into an ambush by the Chinese. Rooftops, windows, walls, and street corners were full of Chinese ambushes, making it hard to defend against them. The remaining few devils were already in a panic. They belonged to the 114th Division, and were all reserve troops. Their battlefield reaction was far inferior to those of the common divisions. They didn't even know where to fight back.

The defenders' ubiquitous grenades made them suffer greatly, and in just a few minutes, only one old Japanese soldier, Shinji Nagano, was left;
"Bagayalu! Kill the chicken!"

Shinji Nagano's defense was completely broken, and he charged madly in the alley with his standard military knife raised high. He didn't even see where his opponent was.

"Snap hook!"

With a gunshot, rifleman He Xiaoqiang finally lost his patience in teasing him and gave him a peanut.

At this point, all 13 Japanese soldiers of the Nagano detachment, including the squad leader, were wiped out, and only one person was injured in the two squads of the 264th Brigade that ambushed them;
After quickly cleaning up the battlefield, they continued to hide. The surrounding blocks were all their brothers. As long as the Japanese broke in, they would be caught in endless attacks, and there would be bullets of revenge everywhere.

The 6th Division and the 114th Division, which were the first to engage in street fighting, did not gain any advantage. After they rushed into the streets and alleys of Xicheng District, fierce street fighting broke out with the defenders, and casualties increased sharply.
Faced with the ubiquitous sound of gunfire, they had no good countermeasures and could only send one regiment after another into the combat area. Even after all the main forces were deployed, the situation of the battle could not be changed.

The Chinese seemed to be increasing in number, so many that even Tani Hisao began to feel a little scared. His previous confidence was gone, replaced by a gloomy mood.

The Chief of Staff Xiaye Yihuo could only comfort him:
“Your Excellency, the 88th Division is indeed very difficult to deal with, but their resistance will not last long. As their troops and ammunition continue to be consumed, their combat effectiveness will drop significantly, and their defeat will be a matter of minutes.
The Imperial Army suffered heavy losses, and the 88th Division suffered even greater losses. It all depends on who can hold out to the end. This kind of protracted battle is exactly what made the Kumamoto Division famous. "

Tani Hisao's expression looked better now, and he nodded and said:
"In the East City, there was also fierce gunfire. There were Japanese weapons and various other weapons. This shows that several other divisions have suffered the same difficulties as us. Now we don't know whether this resistance is spontaneous or organized.

If it was a spontaneous action by the fleeing soldiers, it would be very easy to defeat them. However, if it was a planned, organized, large-scale street battle, the Imperial Army would have to pay a high price to annihilate them. This is what I am worried about!"

Colonel Shimotsu took over and said:
"Your Excellency, the defenders of Jinling City have been defeated. Even though they had a unified command before, they only held out for a few days.

Intelligence showed that most of their senior officers had abandoned their troops and fled to Jiangbei.

In other words, those who stayed behind were all middle and lower-level officers and soldiers, who were not under each other's command and were a loose group. No one had the ability to organize them to fight street battles. Are you worrying too much, Your Excellency?"

Regarding the question raised by the former Chief of Staff, Tani Hisao was not angry, but shook his head and said:
"Mr. Shimoye, I also hope that my judgment is wrong. You seem to have overlooked one person - the commander of the guerrilla column, Yue Qianli!"

(End of this chapter)