Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

Rumble!

Violent explosions covered the city walls.

Early in the morning of the next day, the Japanese attacked the defenders of Zhonghua Gate as if they had agreed.

There are no such things as tricks, just a heavy artillery attack.

Then the flying formation dropped one explosive pack after another, as if they wanted to directly destroy the defenders at Zhongshan Gate.

This was indeed the case. The 16th Division suffered a setback in its attack on Purple Mountain and an entire regiment was directly wiped out. Naturally, this matter could not be concealed from the old Japanese soldier Matsui Iwane who was supervising the battle.

Once again, an entire regiment was wiped out in its entirety. The old Japanese soldier Matsui was furious and ordered a thorough investigation.

This investigation made things simple. First, we looked at what the Japanese soldiers who had escaped said.

Combined with the noise made by the Katyusha rocket launcher, it was easy for the old Japanese soldier Matsui to guess who did it.

After being scolded, the Japanese intelligence department also began to take action.

The final conclusion was that it was the same troop that had appeared in Chunhua Town before.

This made Matsui Iwane furious, and he immediately ordered the 114th Division to attack Zhonghua Gate.

Originally, the 6th Division that attacked Yuhuatai was a good choice.

However, the 6th Division lost a regiment in Changshu, and then had to fight in the subsequent attacks on Niu Shou Mountain, Banqiao Village, Andemen, Shangxinhe and Xiaguan.

At this time, the 6th Division had only more than 9 troops, which was not much better than the th Division. The two division commanders felt like they were in the same boat.

The old Japanese soldier Matsui was naturally very clear about this matter. It was unrealistic for the 6th Division to attack on two fronts, so the nearby 114th Division became the best choice.

The Japanese 114th Division was strong in both men and horses. They attacked south of Nanjing along the Liyang-Lishui highway.

They were assisting other divisions in their attacks, so the casualties were not significant.

Upon receiving the commander's order, the division commander Shigeharu Suematsu immediately dispatched three regiments to attack.

The east side of Zhonghua Gate was under the responsibility of the 102nd Infantry Regiment, while the west side was under the responsibility of the 115th and 150th Infantry Regiments.

After the shelling ended, the Japanese tank soldiers took the lead in attacking, followed by infantry battalions guarding both sides and launching a fierce attack on the city wall.

On the west city wall.

Gu Changfeng looked at the Japanese soldiers outside the city calmly and said with a smile.

"Li Jie, your rocket launcher platoon will go ahead and put an end to the arrogance of these little devils."

"Haha, Commander Gu, just wait and see!"

Li Jie said cheerfully, without any feeling of nervousness before the battle.

whoosh…

Three shells were fired at the Japanese tanks one after another, and a raging fire broke out in an instant, and the three tanks were scrapped.

Several Japanese soldiers nearby were careless and more than a dozen of them died!

"Getting this close, these devils are afraid they won't die fast enough!"

Li Jie muttered something, squatted down and continued to reload.

"Platoon leader, Commander Gu said that dead devils are the best devils. The closer they get, the better."

The loader next to Li Jie echoed.

"Ha ha!"

The soldiers nearby who heard it laughed out loud, and a joyful atmosphere filled the city wall, and everyone's morale was very high.

This time, nearly a thousand people under Gu Changfeng's command were guarding the western city wall alone, facing two Japanese regiments, which was undoubtedly a huge challenge.

At this time, outside the east city wall, the Japanese soldiers also began to attack with the cooperation of tanks.

Soon, the bazooka artillerymen assigned here took action after entering the firing position:

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh" the same three shells were fired, and the result was the same.

Liao Guangyi was so amused that he laughed out loud, "Well done, you've made these little devils arrogant."

This time, with the assistance of three bazooka artillerymen, he can fight much more comfortably.

Three tanks were scrapped instantly, and the Japanese tank soldiers behind them also became angry and started bombarding the city wall.

Rumble!

The shells hit the city wall, raising a cloud of dust, and several unlucky soldiers were killed directly!

The power of dozens of tanks is still considerable. The rocket launcher artillery was suppressed and could not raise their heads. They could only bend over to find a shooting position.

Whizzing.

Three shells flew towards the Japanese tank again, and then the loader continued to load and fire.

The rocket launcher artillerymen who found the opportunity did not give the Japanese a chance to adjust the muzzle and acted extremely quickly.

After several rounds of artillery fire, more than a dozen Japanese tanks were on fire.

Colonel Kohei Maruoka, the regiment commander in the rear, couldn't stand it anymore and shouted angrily.

"Order the tank troops to retreat immediately, quickly."

He had been watching the battle and couldn't help but sob with heartache when he saw more than a dozen tanks being scrapped in a short period of time.

It was the first time that Maruoka Yasuhei encountered this kind of artillery with a straight-line attack, and he was very confused. He turned to look at the combat staff officer next to him and asked.

"Kumaguchi-kun, when did the Chinese develop such advanced weapons? Have you ever heard of it?"

Captain Kumagai was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"Your Excellency, Commander, I have never seen this kind of artillery."

"However, since this type of artillery has appeared, the higher-ups must have recorded it. Perhaps we should ask the division commander about it."

The 114th Division was a Type C division of the Japanese army. After landing in Hangzhou Bay, it had never fought a decent battle.

He was even more confused when facing the rocket launcher.

At the same time, the Japanese regiment commanders on the west side, Endo Torapira and Yamamoto Shigetoshi, were also stunned.

After losing seven or eight tanks, he immediately ordered an evacuation.

The attack that started off well but ended badly left several company commanders under Gu Changfeng speechless.

Return to the temporary headquarters.

Huang Zhengkui yelled, "These devils are far worse than before. They're completely useless. Could they be new recruits?"

"It's not the case for new recruits. The Japanese 114th Division is a Type C division and is indeed much worse than other divisions."

Gu Changfeng explained that he had only just found out about this in the morning.

However, he had no intention of being polite when facing the Japanese 114th Division. They were all the culprits of the massacre in Nanjing, and he would not let any of them go if he had the chance.

"I thought so. After just a few shots, the Japs ordered a retreat."

Huang Zhengkui said with sudden realization, and then shouted: "Damn it, I haven't had enough yet, I have to shoot a few more shots later."

"Okay, Old Huang, just shut up!" Gu Changfeng had a headache.

He is now considering how to support Yuhuatai while causing more casualties to the Japanese outside the city. This is a tricky matter.

There are only so many shells, and they will be gone after two rounds at most.

"Changfeng, haven't you figured out how to fight yet?" Zhao Ziqing, who had returned, looked at Gu Changfeng and asked.

Gu Changfeng shook his head and said, "The Japanese 6th Division has learned their lesson. Today they sent two battalions and an artillery squadron to attack Yuhuatai."

"Also, the 88th Division has reported that the Japanese are not very willing to attack today, but rather seem to be being perfunctory."

Zhao Ziqing thought for a moment and said, "You mean the Japs are waiting for us to take action?"

"Well, it seems that the Japanese want us to expose the position of Katyusha." Gu Changfeng nodded.

The 6th Division has an artillery regiment. If he makes a move, the artillery company will be in danger.

Once locked down, the artillery company had no way of escaping under the cover of the Japanese heavy artillery.

"Then let's not take action yet. We can afford to delay it anyway." Zhao Ziqing suggested.

Gu Changfeng sighed and said, "This is the only way. Let's wait for the Japanese to make the first move."

"Then let's use the mortars. If they can draw out the Japanese heavy artillery, I'll be able to defeat them."

Lu Daya spoke.

"It's not easy to pull up an artillery battery. Don't forget that the 114th Division has an artillery regiment outside the city."

Gu Changfeng was a little hesitant.

If his guess was correct, they would be facing two Japanese artillery regiments.

He only has so many cards up his sleeve, so it will be very difficult to win quickly.