Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 256 Exploded into ruins
At the 3rd Division Field Command, Fujita Susumu received the message and cursed angrily:
"Bakayaluo, that bastard Kawanami was fooled by the Chinese, holding the exquisite porcelain and touching the earthenware jar;

The Imperial Army's advantage is firepower, not fighting street battles with the Chinese in cities they are familiar with!"

Fujita Susumu saw through Zhu Chi's intention at a glance, and the Chief of Staff Colonel Tajiri Toshio naturally understood it, so he took over and said:
"Your Excellency, the division commander, the two sides are now mixed up, and it will be difficult to withdraw."

Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu graduated from the 16th class of the Army Academy, which was a class that produced many famous generals, including General Okamura Yasuji, Doihara Kenji, Itagaki Seishirō, and Ando Toshikichi.
At this time, Itagaki Seishirō was the commander of the 5th Division, Doihara Kenji was the commander of the 14th Division, Okamura Yasuji was the commander of the 2nd Division, and Fujita Susumu was naturally able to serve as the commander of the 3rd Division because of his own strengths.

These old devils are all ruthless people. They snorted coldly and said:
"When a gecko encounters danger, it knows to cut off its tail to survive. It sent a telegram to Colonel Kawanami, asking them to blow the assembly bugle and evacuate Bengbu City overnight.

If you can't evacuate, just use artillery fire to attack indiscriminately, and use heavy artillery to blow South City to the ground!"

Colonel Tajiri looked stern after hearing this. He finally knew what a ruthless person was. He was indeed a senior who graduated from Lu University. There were many things he could learn from him.

Fujita Susumu always had the final say in the 3rd Division. Since he had made up his mind, Colonel Tajiri didn't dare to say a word and just took the order and left.

Colonel Kawanami was stunned when he received the division's reply. Not only did the division commander not support them to continue fighting the defenders, but he ordered them to give up the street fighting and to cover them with artillery fire if they could not withdraw.
Although he was a little confused, he still carried out the order to retreat without compromise and sounded the assembly call;

Unfortunately, the two sides were already entangled, and many troops could not withdraw at all. Forced retreat would be tantamount to seeking death.

There was no other way but to ask Fujita Susumu for tactical guidance;

The ruthless Fujita Susumu immediately ordered the 2nd and 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiments to open fire and carry out indiscriminate bombardment. Suddenly the entire South City was covered by artillery fire and countless houses were reduced to rubble.

The soldiers on both sides suffered heavy casualties in the battle, and the remaining Japanese soldiers took the opportunity to break away from the contact and fled the death zone.

The defenders also suffered heavy losses and could only hide in tunnels dug in advance. Even so, the first and second battalions suffered thousands of casualties.

The Japanese shelling lasted for several hours, and the South City area was almost reduced to ruins. The Japanese were not much better off, with more than 60% of their two regiments suffering casualties.

Zhu Chi had not expected the Japs to be so ruthless. This suicidal tactic actually broke up the chaos in the city.

In order to reduce casualties, Zhu Chi had to order the first and second battalions to evacuate westward and let the enemy pass.

After the 6rd Division bombed the South City into ruins, it ordered the 34th and th Regiments to advance towards the railway bridge;
If there were no follow-up arrangements, Zhu Chi would not withdraw his troops so readily. They could have fought street battles with the Japanese in the ruins.

Since the defenders had retreated westward, the Japanese advance was very smooth. It took only half a day to break through the south city and advance to the vicinity of the railway bridge.

Faced with the defenders who were ready for battle, the Japanese were much more low-key this time. They retreated after a brief contact and waited for artillery support.

The troops defending the south side of the railway bridge were heavy machine gun companies drawn from the first and second battalions, and two infantry companies, with a total strength of less than a battalion.

Since the Japanese had heavy artillery and aircraft, the 8th Guerrilla Column's defense focus was not on the south bank, and the fortifications there were only used to consume the Japanese's manpower;

Now that the South City has been bombed into ruins, the main force of the First Brigade has retreated westwards, opening the railway bridge to attack the Japanese, but the attacking force will also be threatened from the flank.

This is the killer move of a team's defense. They are like a dagger against the enemy's waist, making it difficult for the enemy to attack with all their strength. At least one regiment must be sent to guard the west side. At first, the enemy did not pay much attention to it, thinking that it was just some remnants of the army, and that it would be enough to send a battalion to watch them.
Their focus was still on capturing the railway bridge, and the Japanese attack began with artillery preparation.

The Japanese used 36 guns from a field heavy artillery regiment to bombard the defenders' fortifications;
These were all 105mm heavy artillery, and the Japanese had high hopes for them. When rows of heavy artillery shells came from more than ten kilometers away, most of the shells fell into the Huai River.

The defenders' blockhouses were very close to the Huai River, and the accuracy of their heavy artillery was average, so the effect of the shelling was not very good.

After the artillery preparation was completed, a squadron of Japanese soldiers launched a tentative attack on the railway bridge. Soon they broke into the minefield, causing the Japanese soldiers to scream and howl in agony.

"Damn it, there's a mine on the road!"

The squadron leader exclaimed, then withdrew in alternating cover;

Their attack was originally a tentative one. You won't know until you try. Once you try, you will find a minefield. Colonel Kawanami was very glad that he did not act recklessly.

Now the 6th Regiment and the 34th Regiment have joined forces, and the two old Japanese have also formed a joint command under the unified command of Colonel Kawanami.

For minesweeping, the Japanese had a special engineering regiment, and there were also engineers at the regiment level. The minesweeping was left to them, and the infantry could take a break.
After the previous street fighting, the two regiments suffered a total of more than 2 casualties, which was a very heavy loss. Now the two regiments still have more than 5 people, and Colonel Kawabe is still very confident about capturing the railway bridge.

However, Tagami Hachiro was unsure and said to Colonel Kawanami:

"The railway bridge is only a few meters wide, and the defenders have built a large number of bunkers on both sides. Now there are barbed wire, mines and anti-tank trenches. It's not easy to attack!"

Colonel Kawanami said confidently:
“Tanabe-kun, you can’t lose confidence just because of a few setbacks before;
It's just a minefield. It can't stop the Imperial Army from advancing northward. The Imperial Army's mine-clearing warriors will clear them one by one. We just need to wait patiently."

Colonel Tagami thought this was the only way. Ever since he encountered the guerrilla column, he felt passive everywhere. Being a bit superstitious, he even suspected that he had met his nemesis.

Before attacking the railway bridge, the Japanese went on the defensive on the spot, built field fortifications, and sent troops to guard the periphery. These were routine operations of the Japanese and had been written into the infantry drill manual. This good habit is worth learning from the National Army.

After the fence was built, the Japanese sent a large number of engineers to clear the mines. Yue Qianli bought these mines from Robert in Shanghai.

Imported, German-made anti-personnel mines, powerful and well concealed. Given the Japanese's backward mine-clearing methods, it will take them several days to clear the minefield.

When Captain Han Guangsheng, deputy commander of the First Battalion of the Second Battalion, saw that the Japanese had sent engineers to clear the mines, he ordered the snipers of the infantry company to kill them. The distance of about 500 meters was not difficult for them.
The Kar98k sniper rifles they used were all equipped with imported 4x scopes. Each detachment had dozens of them in the batch that Yue Qianli had purchased before, and each detachment gave them to the best sniper.

Considering the importance of the railway bridge, Zhu Chi specially reinforced the infantry company with five snipers, all equipped with scopes.

The Japanese engineer had just discovered a mine and casually took out a small flag and stuck it on it. Suddenly, a crisp gunshot was heard in the distance, and a high-speed bullet hit the Japanese engineer.

As luck would have it, when he fell down, he stepped on a landmine. With a loud bang, the landmine exploded, knocking down several Japanese soldiers.

"Bakayaloo, enemy attack!"

(End of this chapter)