Songhu: Never Give Up

To the west of Lu'an City, on the main road from Yejiaji to Lu'an City, the 39th Infantry Regiment rushed towards Lu'an City with murderous intent;
Although Major General Setake reminded them to treat the guerrilla column differently, the regiment commander, Colonel Takazo Numata, disagreed.

In his opinion, the strength of the guerrilla column was exaggerated. The actual battle in Taierzhuang proved that the 10th Division's combat power ratio against the Chinese elite was at least 1 to 5.

Even if the guerrilla column is stronger, the ratio is 1 to 3 at best.

Senior staff officer Tadamichi Aso reminded him:

"Sir, as far as I know, the 13th Division and the 7th Division have suffered losses at the hands of the guerrilla column, and the th Regiment's flag was captured by Yue Qianli's troops.

Yue Qianli is very good at ambushes. The terrain ahead is quite complicated. I suggest sending out a search team to search further before moving forward."

Colonel Numata said nonchalantly:
"Is the 13th Division worthy of being compared with the 10th Division?

The name of the Ninth Division's Military Division is all exaggerated. What else can they do except killing innocent people and taking credit for it?
There are only a few thousand Chinese people in Lu'an City. At most, they will harass the imperial army along the way. It won't cause any big trouble. You just need to be cautious. There is no time to search along the way."

Colonel Numata's arrogance was well-founded. The Sebu Brigade had been invincible in North China since the war began, winning every battle with fewer troops.

Many times they defeated a defender's force that was ten times their size and had never suffered a serious loss, so they were very confident and always wanted to fight a battle with the guerrilla column to see who was the elite.

Major Aso was only fulfilling his duty of reminding. He himself did not think that anything serious would happen. There were heavy troops gathered around and the conditions were not in place to encircle and annihilate a regiment.

At this moment, dense gunfire broke out in front. Colonel Numata frowned and shouted coldly:
"What kind of work?"

Major Aso was about to go forward to check when he saw a Japanese lieutenant coming over and reporting:

"Sir, the front was attacked by a small group of Chinese troops. They buried a large number of mines on the main road. Seven people were killed or injured. The warriors are clearing the mines."

When Colonel Numata heard that only a few people were killed and wounded, and that their fighting style was somewhat similar to that of the guerrillas in North China, he immediately felt relieved and continued with a cold face:
"Baka, a few land mines scared you?

Tell Dongye Chengshu that small harassing troops only need to be dispersed and no need to pay too much attention to them!
The 39th Regiment's attack cannot be stopped by a few small mines, they must be cleared quickly."

The person who came to report left in a hurry, and Colonel Numata said to Major Aso with disdain:

"Mr. Aso, did you see that? This is the guerrilla column. They only know some low-level harassment warfare. Their purpose is to delay the Imperial Army."

Major Aso also agreed:
"Yue Qianli's troops like harassment warfare the most. Although the casualties they cause to the imperial army are not great, they are annoying.

I suggest sending a small group of troops to capture local people along the highway, and using them to clear mines will be much more effective."

Colonel Numata adopted Major Aso's suggestion and immediately sent two squadrons to the two wings to capture civilians along the way. However, they were ambushed by the guerrilla column and retreated in disgrace after suffering dozens of casualties.

Only then did Colonel Numata take it seriously. He dispatched engineers to clear mines, and the marching speed was greatly reduced to the crawling speed of a turtle.
The 3rd Battalion relied on harassment warfare to hold off the Japanese for two days, during which time it successfully evacuated personnel and supplies from Lu'an City. Only the 1st Battalion, which was good at defense, was left to guard the city, while the 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion, and the Artillery Battalion evacuated to the mountainous areas on both sides of the main road and hid and waited.

The 39th Regiment stumbled all the way and finally arrived at the city of Lu'an. After learning that there were still defenders in the city, they retreated several hundred meters and set up camp. Although the Japanese were ferocious, their tactical skills were still very high.

This was a siege war after all. Although the West City was not strategically located, the Vanguard Battalion lacked heavy firepower, so they waited patiently for the main force of the regiment to arrive.

When the main force of the regiment arrived, the vanguard battalion commander, Major Higashino, ran over to report to Colonel Numata:

“Sir, the Chinese who blocked our way were at least 3 men, and they have been defeated by our warriors.
There are thousands of enemies in the city. Please advise whether we should launch an attack."

Colonel Numata thought for a moment and said:
"Don't pay too much attention to the Chinese fleeing to the two wings. Just send a part of them to protect the two wings, and the main force will attack the west city and kill all the Chinese!"

The Numata Regiment began to attack Lu'an City. Rows of artillery shells whizzed towards the west city. The low brick walls of the west city could not withstand a few shells and were soon blown down with several gaps. In the face of modern artillery, the flimsy city walls were useless.

After reading it, Numata said proudly:

"In front of the powerful artillery of the Imperial Army, the Chinese defense line is as weak as paper. Kill them!"

Following the order from Colonel Numata, thousands of Japanese soldiers swarmed into Lu'an City like locusts. Lu'an City was breached in just one round of assault, as easy as a drill.

Major Aso looked at Colonel Numata with admiration, flattering him again, and Colonel Numata was also very pleased;
Thinking about the cowardly 13th Division, the superiority of the two sides was obvious. Major Aso couldn't help but flatter Colonel Numata:

"Your Excellency the Commander, the 13th Division cannot really be compared with the powerful Setake Brigade. Even Lord Tanaka has been outshined by your magnanimity. It's true that there is no harm without comparison!" Colonel Numata couldn't help but laugh triumphantly after hearing this. The 13th Division is now a joke in the army, and everyone enjoys making fun of them.

As they were laughing, their smiles froze. Intensive gunfire broke out in the city. It was extremely intense.
There were both Japanese and Soviet weapons, crackling like firecrackers during the Spring Festival. Apparently they were happy a little too early, as the war in the city was far from over.

Colonel Numata seemed to be comforting himself:
"We are clearing out the remaining enemies. It won't take too long. Order all other warriors to proceed. Lift military discipline and kill all Chinese who dare to resist in the city!"

Compared to several famous beast divisions, the 10th Division is still a little better in terms of military discipline. At least their reputation is better than the 6th, 9th, 13th, 16th and other divisions.

The 39th Regiment had a total strength of more than 3700 men, and lost more than 300 men in the attack on Fujin Mountain, and suffered nearly 100 casualties in harassment along the way;
A squadron was sent to guard each wing, and one squadron was left to guard the regiment headquarters. After eliminating the artillery and the regiment headquarters, about 1 Japanese soldiers entered the city.

The 1st Battalion that remained in the city also had 2 men, and suffered dozens of casualties during the Japanese artillery preparations. The strength of both sides was roughly equal;

Lu'an is a small city with little space for movement, and it is almost impossible to accommodate thousands of people for street fighting.

The Japanese had not expected that the defenders would engage in street fighting with them in the city, and they were mentally unprepared. Just as they rushed into the city and prepared to celebrate, intensive bullets were fired from the streets and alleys of Lu'an City, knocking the Japanese in the city to the ground one by one, and casualties soared.

Lieutenant Colonel Higashino, who led the team into the city, had already noticed something unusual. After entering the city, they were harassed by a small group of defenders, and Higashino kept sending troops to pursue them.

Without exception, these troops engaged in fire with the defenders in the city, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Before he knew it, he was left with only an understaffed squadron and battalion headquarters, with fewer and fewer troops to deploy;

He said to the squadron leader Kazuma Yoneda warily:
"Mr. Yoneda, have you noticed anything strange? I always feel like there are countless pairs of eyes staring at us in the city."

Captain Yoneda took over and said:
"The Chinese in the city did not flee, but instead fought stubbornly. Judging from the gunshots, it was obviously not a spontaneous military action, but an organized street fight."

When Major Higashino heard that it was a street fight, his expression suddenly became serious. No one wanted to fight a street fight because the casualties were too high.

The Seya Detachment was completely wiped out in the street fighting in Taierzhuang. This left Major Higashino with lingering fears, and he carefully reminded Captain Yoneda:
"Mr. Yoneda, we can't go any deeper. Let's switch to defense right now. Send two teams to occupy the two wings and protect the battalion headquarters."

Captain Yoneyama took the order and left. Major Higashino then found a three-story brick-concrete house nearby as the battalion headquarters, and he placed two infantry guns on the roof.

After seizing the commanding heights, Major Higashino felt relieved. Now his three main infantry squadrons had been sent out and could not be contacted for the time being;

The Japanese's radio station was only equipped to the battalion level, and the communication between the squadrons could only rely on bugle calls. He was unwilling to retreat now, and he chose to believe in his brave warriors.

As time went by, the gunfire in the city became more and more chaotic. It would take time to determine the winner, so Major Higashino could only wait patiently.

Like Major Higashino, 1st Battalion Commander Li Jie also lost control of his troops, but he did it on his own initiative;

After experiencing street fighting in Shanghai, Nanjing, Bengbu and other places, he knew better than anyone the cruelty of street fighting. Once the fighting started, he could not contact the troops at all.

In this case, he simply delegated power, and very thoroughly, to the company level, and his battalion headquarters was set up in the county high school;

Their left wing was the First Battalion, and their right wing was the Second Battalion, with only one company from the Third Battalion protecting the battalion headquarters.

All the mortars and infantry guns of the artillery battalion were delegated to various battalions, with two guns in each battalion. Only four 2mm mountain guns were left in the battalion headquarters, which were placed in the main teaching building by Li Jie, but they were of little use.

They have now temporarily lost their command function and only exist as a key point. If the Japanese really attack the location of the battalion headquarters, they can only fight with them to the death.

Left wing, 2nd Battalion Headquarters
The three companies under the battalion commander Xie Guoqiang were also released, but they were in contact with each other. The battalion headquarters was in a fixed location, so the three company commanders could find him. The contact method was naturally manual;

Even though Xie Guoqiang was staring at the map all the time, he actually couldn't do anything. It all depended on each company how to fight.

At this moment, a company signalman ran over and reported an important news to him: they accidentally discovered a command post of the Japanese.

Xie Guoqiang immediately became interested when he heard this, and immediately said to the communicator:
"I will reinforce the artillery company for you. Tell Captain Jin that we must destroy the enemy's headquarters!"

Jin Yuefei sent people here just for the artillery company in Xie Guoqiang's hands. With the two mortars and two infantry guns in the artillery company, they were confident that they could capture the location of the Japanese command headquarters.

(End of this chapter)