Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

Another tragic battlefield, Huashan, commonly known as Jiuli Mountain, is located in the south of Jiangyin Fortress, bordering Xicheng Highway to the west and Chengyang Highway to the east. It is a natural barrier shielding the southern wing of Jiangyin Fortress.

Because of its commanding height overlooking the plain, it became a thorn that had to be removed in the Japanese attack on the Jiangyin Fortress.

A few days ago, the vanguard of the Japanese Army's 13th Division, the Goto Detachment, reached Qingyang Town on the front line of Huashan.

Stationed in Qingyang Town is a company of the 667th Regiment of the 334th Brigade of the 112th Division.

Faced with Japanese troops that outnumbered their own by several times, the officers and soldiers of this company relied on the fortifications in the town to put up a tenacious resistance.

Fierce street fighting lasted for several hours. The defenders were eventually outnumbered and most of them died heroically. Qingyang Town was thus lost.

Immediately, the attack and defense of Huashan began.

Over the next few days, the two sides fought bloody battles here for four days, but the Chinese army always firmly blocked the Japanese army's advance.

On December 8, the Japanese army launched a general offensive, and the most brutal offensive and defensive battle in Huashan officially began.

At 4 p.m., the Japanese 13th Division, guided by observation balloons, began to bombard the Huashan position fiercely.

The shells fell like raindrops, and the entire Huashan was shrouded in smoke.

The Japanese 58th Regiment, supported by eight 150mm cannons, launched a strong attack on the Huashan position.

At the same time, the Japanese army also dispatched several gunboats to approach along the Yangtze River and bombarded the Huashan position from the flank in an attempt to disperse the defenders' firepower.

守军第103师官兵凭借永久国防工事顽强抵抗，要塞炮兵也以4门88mm高平两用炮，两门120mm要塞炮及两门230mm要塞炮全力支援花山作战。

The fierce artillery battle lasted throughout the day, and the Japanese army's daytime offensive was repeatedly frustrated.

However, the Japanese army did not give up.

On the night of the 8th, the Japanese army took advantage of the cover of darkness and launched another surprise attack.

Receiving a strict order from the Central China Expeditionary Force Headquarters, the Japanese 13th Division dispatched two infantry regiments in a reckless death charge. . . .

After a fierce night battle, the Japanese army finally captured Huashan Town, but the high ground near Huashan Town was still in the hands of the defenders.

On the 9th, the war entered a white-hot stage.

The Japanese army dispatched planes to bomb Huashan Heights and Jiangyin Fortress, but two of them were shot down by the defenders' 88mm guns.

At the same time, the Japanese army dispatched powerful heavy artillery to try to suppress the fortress artillery firepower.

Under the cover of heavy artillery, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack on Huashan Heights with two infantry regiments.

The 618th Regiment of the 103rd Division was defending Huashan Heights.

Faced with the infantry charge led by Japanese tanks, the officers and soldiers of the regiment remained fearless.

Because the regiment's combat effectiveness was relatively weak and its firepower was inferior to that of the Japanese army, they adopted the tactic of luring the enemy into a hand-to-hand fight.

The battle was extremely brutal. Li Yichang, deputy commander of the 618th Regiment, and Li Zhongchun, commander of the 2nd Battalion, were seriously injured in the fierce fighting. Chen Shaopei, commander of the 1st Battalion, and Liu Songsheng, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 613th Regiment, died heroically.

While the fierce fighting was going on at Huashan, a fierce battle also broke out at the Dingshan position on the east side.

Dingshan is an important commanding height protecting the eastern wing of Jiangyin City and is defended by the 618th Regiment of the 103rd Division.

The Japanese army realized the importance of Dingshan and deployed tank troops to launch a strong attack.

Fortunately, the 618th Regiment was well prepared and had dug a wide anti-tank trench at the front of the position.

When the Japanese tanks charged, they fell into the trenches one after another, and the infantry came under heavy fire from the defenders and were forced to retreat.

After nightfall, the commander of the 618th Regiment, Wan Shijiong, organized a suicide squad, sneaked into the anti-tank trench under the cover of darkness, stuffed grenades into the observation holes of the Japanese tanks, and used cluster grenades to blow up the tracks, destroying all seven Japanese tanks trapped in the trench.

However, by noon on the 10th, the Dingshan position was unfortunately lost, and the defending 9th Company suffered heavy casualties.

Deputy Division Commander Dai Zhiqi, who was supervising the battle on the front line, was furious and ordered the 7th Company to counterattack Dingshan.

Zhu Ronghua, the company commander of the 7th Company, led his troops to charge with the determination to die, and recaptured Dingshan in one fell swoop, but the company commander Xia Anmin was killed in the fierce battle.

The Japanese army immediately launched a fierce counterattack, and the 618th Regiment was caught in a tough battle. Seeing the urgent situation, Division Commander He Zhizhong sent the reserve 615th Regiment into the battle.

During the fierce battle, Commander Zhou Xiangkui and two battalion commanders of the 615th Regiment were injured and evacuated, leaving only Commander Cheng Peng of the 3rd Battalion to continue commanding the battle.

As the Huashan position was gradually divided by the Japanese army, the situation of the defenders became increasingly difficult.

On December 11, the Japanese army had formed a siege on the Jiangyin defenders.

At dawn on the 12th, an ominous omen hung over the Xicheng defense line.

Nearly a month of fierce fighting has left the national defense fortification system, known as the "Eastern Maginot Line", riddled with holes.

Although the Chinese defenders inflicted heavy damage on the enemy with their permanent fortifications and tenacious fighting spirit, cracks began to appear in the defense line under the continuous and fierce attacks of the Japanese army's absolute superiority in strength.

At dawn, Japanese Central China Front Commander Matsui Iwane issued an order for a general attack.

The Japanese 2nd Division, 9th Division and 16th Division launched the main attack from the east line of Wuxi, the 13th Division attacked the Jiangyin Fortress fiercely, and the 11th Division was the reserve division for the second echelon of the attack.

The 6th Division, 18th Division and 114th Division of the 10th Army carried out a flanking maneuver towards the southern wing of the defense line.

The Japanese army deployed a total of 20 regiments, equipped with more than 200 tanks and more than 500 artillery pieces, forming an overwhelming force advantage.

At 5 a.m., the Japanese Air Force launched the attack.

The Type 96 carrier-based attack aircraft group took off from the aircraft carrier Kaga and carried out dive bombing on the defenders' positions. Then the Type 93 heavy bomber group of the Army Aviation carried out carpet bombing on the deep command posts and transportation hubs.

Thick smoke enveloped the entire Xicheng area, and the sound of explosions lasted for dozens of miles.

"Report to the division commander, the forward observation post discovered that a cluster of Japanese tanks is gathering!" Inside the 11th Division command post, the chief of staff made an urgent report to the division commander Peng Shan.

Looking through the observation hole, the Japanese army columns on the distant plain were winding like long snakes, with a cold and hard metallic luster in the morning light.

At 7 a.m., the Japanese army launched a general attack across the entire line.

The Houshan position in the eastern suburbs of Wuxi was the first to be hit and became the Japanese army's key breakthrough target.

The Japanese 16th Division concentrated all its artillery firepower and carried out a saturation bombardment on the main position of Houshan.

The bombardment lasted for two hours, with more than 10,000 shells fired, and the entire mountain was cut down by several feet.

The officers and soldiers of the 13th Division fought desperately under the command of Division Commander Zhu Hongxun.

Yu Ziwen, commander of the 37th Brigade, personally went to the front line and ran back and forth in the trenches to boost morale: "Brothers, Wuxi City is behind us. We have no way to retreat!"

The officers and soldiers used cluster grenades to fight against the Japanese tanks, and a fierce hand-to-hand combat broke out on the battlefield.

By 9 a.m., the main peak position of Houshan was finally lost.

After the 38th Regiment of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army occupied the commanding heights, it immediately established an observation post to guide artillery fire in depth.

The fall of Houshan opened the gateway to the eastern suburbs of Wuxi, and the first major breakthrough appeared in the northern section of the Xicheng defense line.