Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The commander of the 101st Regiment, Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka, was now lying on the ground in a very ungraceful manner. He had just led the officers and soldiers of the st Battalion to search the city carefully.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion behind him. His first reaction was to lie down quickly, but before he could move, a huge air wave hit his back hard, knocking him two meters forward and falling heavily to the ground. This shock made Colonel Iizuka Kunigoro's brain crash. He felt as if his internal organs seemed to have shifted.

Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka is feeling very uncomfortable now. He opened his mouth and tried desperately to breathe in a few breaths of air, but his internal organs seem to be turning upside down and he has a strong urge to vomit. This is a hundred times more uncomfortable than drinking too much sake.

Finally, with the efforts of Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka, he finally vomited violently. He felt that he should not have eaten too much in the morning. After vomiting intermittently for about two minutes, Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka finally felt that his body seemed to be under control.

Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka tried hard to support his body and stand up from the ground, but he failed after several attempts. He really wanted to see what was happening behind him. After he took two or three minutes to recover, he finally stood up from the ground.

When Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka stood up, he immediately saw that the officers and soldiers around him were either lying or crawling on the ground, while some were sitting on the ground, staring straight ahead with their eyes. It was obvious that they were a little dazed by the strong shock of the explosion.

When Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka looked at the Hue Gate Tower nearly 300 meters behind him, he was surprised to find that there was no gate tower there. Even a large section of the city wall around the gate tower had collapsed. Only then did he understand what the explosion had just happened.

It was over. There were still many officers and soldiers of his 101st Regiment at the city gate tower. Colonel Iizuka Kunigoro was also extremely anxious, so he shouted loudly to the officers and soldiers who were still in a daze around him: "Wake up quickly and prepare for combat defense. Quickly, quickly, get up."

The 149th Regiment that entered Hongcheng from Yonghe Gate was even more miserable than the 101st Regiment. The regiment commander, Colonel Tatsun Tsuda, was walking up the bluestone steps leading to the city wall in high spirits, while the Yonghe Gate tower and the city walls beside it were crowded with officers and soldiers of the 149th Regiment who were shouting "Long live" loudly. Except for the officers and soldiers of the first battalion of the regiment who had already searched forward into the city, the officers and soldiers of the second battalion were already on the gate tower and the city walls, and the officers and soldiers of the third battalion were also preparing to enter the city one after another.

Colonel Tatsusan Tsuda was walking on the stairs in a good mood, when suddenly he felt that the bluestone steps under his feet seemed as soft as cotton. Before he could figure out what was going on, Colonel Tatsusan Tsuda felt like he was flying up, and at the same time, a sharp pain spread all over his body, and then nothing happened.

When the Chief of Staff of the 101st Division, Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama, personally led the 103rd Regiment as the reserve force and rushed all the way to the two city gates, the scene in front of them shocked everyone. They saw that the originally towering city gate tower and the city wall next to it were now a pile of broken bricks and rubble. Among the piles of broken bricks and rubble, the broken limbs of Japanese officers and soldiers could be seen everywhere, and some officers and soldiers were lying on the ground nearby, wailing loudly.

Chief of Staff Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama quickly organized the officers and soldiers of the 103rd Regiment who followed to rescue the surviving soldiers. At the same time, he also began to count the losses of the 101st and 149th Regiments.

After the explosion, the officers and soldiers on the front-line positions of the New 100th Division organized several small units, hoping to take advantage of the Japanese army's confusion. However, when they carefully advanced for a distance, they found that some Japanese troops far away from the explosion site were on guard and defense. Immediately, these small units of the New 100th Division withdrew. When they could not take advantage, it was better to wait for the Japanese army to attack.

Throughout the morning, the Japanese army was busy treating the wounded and digging out Japanese officers and soldiers who were buried under broken bricks and rubble. Even the 157th Regiment, which was preparing to attack the west side of the Gan River, dispatched a battalion of officers and soldiers to help.

The division commander, Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito, walked in the field hospital outside Hongcheng with a very gloomy face. He could judge from the number of wounded soldiers in the field hospital that the losses of his 101st and 149th Regiments were not optimistic. The chief of staff, Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama, had been running back and forth between the two city gates. Not only did he need to organize officers and soldiers to carry out excavation and rescue, but he also had to pay attention to the attacks that the Chinese army in the city might launch at any time. This made him sweat profusely.

At 103:101 in the afternoon, the Chief of Staff, Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama, returned to the division headquarters outside the city covered in dust. He did not even have time to drink a sip of water before he went directly into the tent of the division commander, Lieutenant General Ito Masaki, and reported: "Your Excellency, the situation in front is now basically stable. I asked the 149rd Regiment to send two battalions of officers and soldiers to defend the city area we occupied this morning. The remaining officers and soldiers of the st and th Regiments also withdrew to the city gate to assist in the work of clearing, excavating, and transporting the wounded."

The division commander, Lieutenant General Ito Masaki, looked at Major General Nishiyama Fukutaro, who was covered in dust and sweat, and tried desperately to force a smile on his face to comfort this diligent subordinate, but he couldn't do it no matter what. He could only try to ease the situation and said, "Nishiyama-kun, what is the loss of the troops? Do you have a rough estimate?"

Lieutenant General Masaki Ito had rationally judged that the result might not be good based on the number of wounded soldiers he saw in the field hospital that morning, but he still hoped to hear some surprising news from Fukutaro Nishiyama. People are sometimes so contradictory.

Major General Nishiyama Fukutaro looked at the division commander, whose eyes were full of expectation. He hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and closed his eyes and said, "Your Excellency the division commander, the 101st Regiment that attacked from the Hue Gate and the 149th Regiment that attacked from the Yonghe Gate suffered about 101 casualties in the explosion caused by the Chinese army. Among them, the commander of the 149nd Battalion and the commander of the rd Battalion of the st Regiment died in battle. The commander of the th Regiment, Colonel Tsuda Tatsusan, and the commander of the nd Battalion of the regiment have also died in battle. The commander of the rd Battalion was seriously injured by rocks from the explosion and is now being rescued."

After hearing the report from Fukutaro Nishiyama, Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito's mood also sank. He knew that he was in trouble. The Chinese army had destroyed two of his regiments in one fell swoop. Even one of the regiment commanders was killed. How should his troops carry out the attack now?

Lieutenant General Ito Masayoshi was getting angrier and angrier. He pulled out the samurai sword on the table and slashed it hard. After venting his anger, Lieutenant General Ito Masayoshi ordered with a gloomy face: "Nishiyama, merge the remaining officers and soldiers of the 149th Regiment into the 101st Regiment, under the unified command of the commander of the 101st Regiment, Colonel Iizuka Kunigoro. Withdraw them to the outside of the Hue Gate for reorganization and repair."

Fukutaro Nishiyama also knew that what was needed now was to restore the morale of the troops. Today was no longer suitable to continue attacking the city, and the officers and soldiers needed to slow down.

Zhang Wenwu was not aware that his shady trick had caused such heavy casualties to the 101st Division. He and the officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division were all on high alert in their respective positions, awaiting the crazy attack that the Japanese army might launch at any time. However, they waited and waited, but they did not see the Japanese army continue to advance into the city. Instead, the 157th Regiment responsible for attacking from the west side of the Ganjiang River launched an attack on the new nd Army troops on the west side of the Ganjiang River alone.

For a while, there were loud gunfire on the west bank of the Ganjiang River, while the urban area on the east bank of the Ganjiang River, which should have been the main battlefield, was eerily quiet. If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Wenwu's radio station sent telegrams to the military headquarters from time to time, Army Commander Huang Jinxian would have suspected that all the Japanese troops on the New 100th Division's side had disappeared.

"Division Commander, it's already afternoon. I don't think the Japanese will launch an attack today. It seems that the explosions at the two city gates before have caused considerable casualties to the Japanese. I hope that Ito Masayoshi of the 101st Division was killed in the explosion. That would be fun." Ouyang Heng stood on the roof of the division headquarters, smoking leisurely, and said to Zhang Wenwu with a smile.

Zhang Wenwu thought about it and said uncertainly: "It's hard to say. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be possible. Ito Masayoshi shouldn't be so brave to lead the team forward in the first wave of attack. I guess the Japanese army is afraid that if they advance into the city, they will encounter other traps of ours, so they also slowed down the attack speed. But tell the troops below that the Japanese army may launch an attack at any time, and everyone should be alert and never let down their guard."

At night, Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito summoned Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka, commander of the newly formed 101st Regiment, and Colonel Yukizo Hasegawa, commander of the 103rd Regiment assigned to the attack sequence, to the tent at the division headquarters. He thought about it during the day and decided to follow the previously formulated attack plan, with the two regiments launching an attack on the Chinese army in the city from two directions at the same time.

At the same time, he also sent a telegram to Commander Okamura Yasuji requesting air support. He hoped that the Air Force could help them reduce some of the Chinese army's resistance in tomorrow's attack.

The next morning, after a night's rest, the Japanese army finally began to attack the city, and Japanese planes flew over Hongcheng to drop bombs. The officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division finally had a real exchange of fire with the 101st Division.

During the morning's attack, the division commander, Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito, learned from intelligence sent back by the front troops that the Chinese army had built defensive fortifications on every street in Hongcheng. The two sides fought back and forth for every street and house. His two regiments attacked desperately for a whole morning and only advanced less than 300 meters.