Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 259: Stealing chicken but losing rice
Ying Xiaosen did not expect that crossing the river would be so smooth, but he still ordered the follow-up troops to follow up. Now the arrow was on the string and had to be shot;

As the commander of a permanent division, although he was a wild man, he still had high tactical skills. He had instructed the vanguard captain in advance that after a successful landing he only had to occupy the position and cover the subsequent troops crossing the river, and not pursue the defeated Chinese.

Ying Xiaosen was also worried about a counterattack by the defenders. A battalion was too weak, so he would not feel relieved until the entire regiment crossed the river.
According to the combat power calculations of the Japanese commanders, one regiment was enough to dominate the Chinese battlefield. In the Battle of Wuhan in another time and space, the Hata Detachment that landed in Anqing rushed around recklessly, not taking the hundreds of thousands of Central Army seriously at all.

Ying Xiaosen's regiment is the regiment of the 3rd Division. In Ying Xiaosen's opinion, as long as the entire regiment crosses the river, not even a single Chinese army can do anything to them.

Gao Zhisong took advantage of the Japanese's arrogance and let the 68th Regiment cross the river. He was also confident that he could defeat the Yingxiao Regiment, which had landed hastily and lacked heavy weapons, with just one detachment.

Both sides are full of confidence. We’ll know whether it’s a mule or a horse once we take them out for a walk!

Two kilometers away, the artillery of the detachment's artillery battalion, the 2nd battalion, and the 3rd battalion were all gathered together. Dozens of mountain cannons and mortars were Gao Zhisong's confidence;

Gao Zhisong naturally would not wait until all the Japanese troops had landed. The time he chose to counterattack was when the last batch of Japanese troops had just crossed the center of the river. This was when the 68th Regiment was at its most vulnerable. He had to take advantage of the enemy's weakness to kill him!
"Team, artillery, please tell me if we can fire?"

The brigade's communications officer came over to ask for instructions. Gao Zhisong put down his binoculars, looked at his watch, and ordered loudly:
"fire!"

"Order the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to attack from the artillery points!"

"Order the 1st Battalion to block the flanks and not let any Japanese sneak to the east."

As Gao Zhisong issued orders one after another, the counterattack against the 68th Regiment began!

Dozens of mountain guns and mortars from the entire detachment fired rows of shells at the deep positions of the Japanese, causing chaos and corpses everywhere.
The 2 soldiers from the 3nd and 4rd Battalions launched an overwhelming attack on the Japanese from the front and the west.

The Japanese were thrown into disarray by the sudden artillery bombardment, even though they had repaired simple fortifications;
However, these hastily dug linear trenches could not withstand the ravages of dozens of artillery fire, and a large number of Japanese soldiers died under the artillery fire.
The rest huddled in the ruined trenches and shivered, while some were even more desperate and fled in panic after being bombed.

The starting positions of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were only a few hundred meters away from the Japanese, and they quickly rushed up under the cover of artillery fire;

The Japanese soldiers in charge of outer security responded hastily, but due to their relatively small numbers, they were quickly overwhelmed by the attack tide of the two battalions.

Although their blocking caused some casualties to the attacking troops, it could not stop the overwhelming torrent of the attacking troops;

In just over ten minutes, the vanguard troops of the two battalions broke through the Japanese's outer defense line. These were the first vanguard brigade to cross the river, and there were only a few hundred people left. The two sides soon engaged in a fight.

In order to buy time for the core position troops, the Japanese soldiers of Arai Battalion fought desperately;

Unfortunately, the difference in military strength between the two sides was too great. The assault brigade of the First Team was equipped with a large number of submachine guns. After they rushed to the position, they fired at the Japanese, and the Japanese disappeared visibly.

The 3rd Battalion Assault Battalion, which attacked from the flank, also arrived in time. They broke into the waist of the Japanese defense line and, together with the 2nd Battalion Assault Battalion, which attacked from the front, attacked from both sides. They quickly cut the defense area of ​​the Arai Battalion into several pieces and then defeated them one by one.

The Japanese soldiers of the Arai Battalion were also brave and did not collapse in such an unfavorable situation, but they only held out for a dozen minutes before they were slaughtered.

That's right, it was a massacre. The difference in strength between the two sides was too great, and the result of forcibly blocking them was the annihilation of the entire army. Of course, their death was not without effect, at least it bought time for the last batch of devils to land.

Colonel Takamori and the regiment also crossed the Huai River. The sudden change made him a little confused, but as a responsible regiment commander, he chose to share the hardships with the troops at this critical moment of life and death.
His arrival gave the Japanese some backbone, but the passive situation could not be changed.

He knew that the outer battalions could not hold out for long, so after restraining the chaotic troops, he sent out a battalion to try to break out from the eastern front, while he himself commanded the main force to prepare to withstand the attacks from the front and west.

The 3rd Battalion sent out a squadron to attack the enemy from the front, while the main force, led by the battalion commander, Major Gao Jian, continued to attack the Japs from the flank.

The enemy's defense line was constantly being compressed, and the number of troops was decreasing. The frantic Ying Xiaosen ordered the artillery on the other side of the river to open fire.
The shells rained down like raindrops, causing heavy casualties to both the attacking troops and the Japanese. The Japanese, fighting a desperate battle, also burst out with tremendous strength and blocked the offensive of the Second Detachment.

Seeing that the situation was almost critical, Gao Zhisong ordered the attacking force to stop the attack and retreat several hundred meters in order to reduce casualties, thus encircling the remnants of the 68th Regiment in a small area near the river bank.

The Japanese troops who broke out to the east were also defeated by the 1st Battalion, which was on high alert. The remnants retreated to the residence where the main force of the Japanese troops was located. At this point, the 68th Regiment, which had landed, was surrounded on three sides by the nd Detachment.

Inside the temporary field command post, the bloodstained Ying Xiaosen had long lost his previous arrogance, and they were barely holding on with the support of the artillery on the other side;
The losses of each battalion have been counted. The vanguard battalion was almost wiped out, and the other two battalions also suffered nearly half of their men in casualties. Now all together there are less than two thousand people, many of whom are non-combatants.

The difficult problem facing Ying Xiaosen now is whether to retreat across the river. Even if he does, he has to hold out until dark, otherwise the Chinese will attack him halfway across the river. In the end, it would be good if half of the people can retreat.

Captain Yokoyama Yoshiharu's opinion was to fight to the death and wait for help. He said with murderous intent:

"We still have nearly 2,000 men, and with the support of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive.

The Chinese have already used up all their three weapons. They only have 5 people at most. It is simply wishful thinking for them to encircle and annihilate the 68th Regiment.

To retreat now would be to admit defeat!"

His last words touched the heart of Ying Xiaosen. How could he admit defeat so easily? He snorted coldly:
"What Yokoyama-kun said is absolutely right. The Chinese didn't drive us into the river at the most favorable time, and they won't have another chance in the future!

I decided to fight to the death, defend the bridgehead on the north bank, and ask the division commander for tactical guidance;

Wait for the reinforcements to arrive, break through the defenders' defenses, and then attack the northern city of Bengbu from the flank."

The Japanese soldiers all expressed their agreement and were unwilling to admit defeat.

After the meeting, Ying Xiaosen sent a telegram to the division headquarters, saying that the 68th Regiment had broken through the Chinese river defenses, killed thousands of enemies, and suffered many casualties, and requested tactical guidance.

It has encountered an audit issue. The last two chapters will be posted after they are revised at 8 am tomorrow when I go to work.

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(End of this chapter)