The War of Resistance Against Japan: Special Operations Battalion Traverses Shanghai and Slaughters

Liu Anqi was still somewhat worried: "Commander Long, if we let the Japanese in, what if they can't hold out...?"

Long Fei could only continue to patiently explain.

"Commander Liu, I'm not only planning to do this at Guanghua Gate, but I also intend to do it at the other city gates."

"Only by letting the Japanese know that they will be ambushed and suffer heavy losses after entering the city will they not rush in so easily, especially at night."

"In this way, we can buy time for other units to retreat and successfully complete the covering mission."

After careful consideration, Liu Anqi concluded that Long Fei's words made a lot of sense, and that he currently had no better options or tactics.

Therefore, Liu Anqi finally made up his mind to act according to Long Fei's plan.

"Alright, Commander Long, I'll listen to you. You're the one who devised the plan, so just give the orders directly. My 57th Army will absolutely obey your commands."

The main reason Liu Anqi adopted such a humble attitude was that he did not want the 57th Army to be completely wiped out, and he wanted to leave some seeds for this Northeast Army.

"Alright, Commander Liu, it's 1:05 PM now. Order the troops to withdraw into the city by 1:30 PM."

"Then we concentrated all the submachine guns, light and heavy machine guns, and grenades of the army and set up firing positions on the high ground of the buildings on both sides of the street to ambush the Japanese soldiers entering the city."

After speaking, Long Fei left Liu Anqi's military headquarters and went outside to issue combat orders to everyone.

"The Second Company will stay behind and immediately set up firing positions on the high ground on both sides of the street, using all their submachine guns, light and heavy machine guns, rifle grenades, mortars, and hand grenades."

"In addition, the snipers also found advantageous shooting positions, mainly to snipe Japanese officers, grenade launcher operators, machine gunners, etc."

"The third, fourth, and fifth companies will each form one group, and the reconnaissance platoon, engineer platoon, etc. will form another group. Each of your four groups will be equipped with two Tiger tanks."

"Then we went to the positions of Brigade Commander Chen Yiding, Brigade Commander Zhu Ci, Division Commander Wang Yaowu, and Division Commander Ding Zhipan, just like we did at Guanghuamen, and let the Japanese in to beat them with the gate."

"Remember, have the Tiger tanks use armor-piercing shells to destroy as many Japanese tanks and armored vehicles as possible. The rest of you are responsible for eliminating all the Japanese soldiers who rush into the city."

After Liu Anqi gave the order, the remaining 3,000 soldiers of the 57th Army immediately abandoned their positions and retreated back into the city.

Then, together with the Second Company, they established powerful firing positions on the high ground on both sides of the street.

The force now launching a full-scale attack on Guanghua Gate is the 19th Regiment of the 18th Brigade of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army.

Before the Japanese 9th Division, three entire regiments were wiped out by Long Fei in Taiping Town and Chunhua Town.

Although the Japanese received some reinforcements later, their organizational structure was not restored.

Division Commander Yoshizumi Ryosuke was not only severely reprimanded by General Matsui, but also received a serious warning from the Japanese Army Ministry, who told him to redeem himself through meritorious service, or he would be dismissed and severely punished.

Therefore, Yoshizumi Ryosuke issued a death order to Hitomi Hidezo, the commander of the 19th Regiment.

We must spare no expense to become the first force to breach the defenses of Nanjing, in order to wash away the shame of the Ninth Division.

Furthermore, Yoshizumi Ryosuke assigned the 9th Mountain Artillery Regiment of the division, along with all its tanks and armored vehicles, to the 19th Regiment.

What made Yoshizumi Ryosuke want to vomit blood was that, under the cover of such powerful artillery fire and armored forces...

The 19th Regiment launched five attacks, but all of them were stubbornly repelled by the 57th Army.

Of course, the 57th Army also paid a heavy price for this. Not only were the 671st and 673rd Regiments of the 112th Division completely wiped out, but even the deputy division commander, Li Lanchi, died a heroic death.

The 111th Division was in a slightly better situation, but it still suffered more than half of its losses.

The Japanese army's five attacks also caused the 19th Regiment to lose nearly half of its troops.

After Hidezo Hitoshi had his troops eat lunch, he personally selected and formed a suicide squad and ordered the sixth attack to defeat the Chinese defenders and break into Guanghua Gate.

Coincidentally, Hitoshi Hidezo's attack time was exactly 1:30.

The Japanese artillery launched another barrage of bombardments, followed by sixteen Type 92 and Type 89 tanks, and seven Type 92 armored vehicles, which thundered toward Guanghua Gate.

Following behind were a suicide squad of two hundred men and a company of Japanese soldiers.

As a result, the Japanese soldiers discovered that the Chinese troops on the position offered no resistance whatsoever.

This delighted the Japanese soldiers. The Guanghua Gate had already been destroyed, so the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles stormed in.

Hitomi Hidezo watched all this through binoculars from behind and was extremely excited.

"Immediately report to the division commander that my 19th Regiment broke through the Chinese army's defenses at 1:42 PM, crossed Guanghua Gate, and entered Nanjing City."

While Hidezo was sending a smug telegram, the tanks and armored vehicles that had entered the city continued to advance deeper into the city.

But after driving forward two or three hundred meters, the Japanese soldiers suddenly noticed two huge tanks not far ahead.

Before the Japanese could react, the two tanks at the forefront were hit by armor-piercing shells from Tiger tanks.

One of them even detonated the shell inside the tank, causing a secondary explosion.

After a loud "boom," the troops lying in ambush on both sides of the street immediately opened fire on the Japanese soldiers.

"Da da da... bang bang bang..."

The submachine guns and machine guns formed a dense barrage, mowing down a company of Japanese suicide squads following behind the tanks and armored vehicles.

The snipers seized their opportunities, shooting one after another without missing a beat.

Other soldiers either threw grenades, fired rifle grenades, or used mortars to eliminate the Japanese soldiers while also blocking their retreat.

The Tiger tanks were not to be outdone, charging towards the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles while continuously firing armor-piercing rounds.

Hitoshi was overjoyed for less than three minutes when he heard fighting breaking out inside. He had no choice but to immediately order his reinforcements to rush into the city to provide support.

However, the Japanese reinforcements had barely rushed into the city gate when they were bombarded by a barrage of mortar shells and rifle grenades.

As for the Japanese troops that had stormed into the city, they only lasted for about ten minutes before being wiped out.

The Japanese tanks and armored vehicles also retaliated on the spot.

However, their tank shells and armored machine gun bullets were completely ineffective against the Tiger tank.

Instead, they were completely destroyed by two Tiger tanks within minutes.

Seeing that the trap had been successfully set, Long Fei ordered an immediate counterattack, driving the Japanese soldiers back from the city gate.

Hitomi Hidezo witnessed firsthand that this attack had once again ended in a disastrous failure, resulting in the loss of another five or six hundred troops, as well as all the tanks and armored vehicles that had participated in the attack.

This infuriated Xiu San, who stomped his feet in anger and could only hastily order his troops to retreat.

"Damn it, those damned Chinese troops are so cunning! Don't send the telegram, whatever you do, don't send it!"

"Reporting to the regimental commander, the telegram to the division commander has been sent..."

"Nani..."

Hitoshi almost coughed up a mouthful of blood. Like a deflated balloon, his legs went weak and he sat down on the ground.