activa-t Chapter 82 The Japanese Fleet Arrives, Bombards the Dock, Song Xilian's Choice
Chapter 82 The Japanese Fleet Arrives, Bombards the Dock, Song Xilian's Choice
Chief of Staff Kazuki Shimotsuke stated with considerable certainty:
"This is the latest report. I just observed that the front-line positions are indeed under attack from the enemy."
It is highly likely that when our air force bombarded the area, the enemy abandoned their positions but did not retreat; instead, they charged forward.
Hisao Tani suddenly stood up, pushed all the sushi on the table to the ground, and roared angrily.
"That idiot Yoshikawa Kiyoaki, what is he doing? Tell him to come see me right now and commit seppuku!!"
After Shimono Kazuho finished his roar, he then said:
"Uh... Yoshikawa Kiyoaki has been killed in action."
Hisao Tani's vision went black, and he slumped into a chair, rubbing his head weakly, repeatedly muttering a name.
"Li Jianghe... Li Jianghe... Li Jianghe..."
The battle continued until noon. Although the Japanese army made an overall advance, they often only advanced two or three blocks, which was far from their initial target.
Of course, the most humiliating thing was that the Ninth Division lost three city blocks to the enemy.
As for the 114th Division, Shigeharu Suematsu could still say that although his troops had not captured Yuhuatai, they had at least decimated a significant number of the enemy's elite troops.
The 16th Division Commander, Nakajima Kesago, remained silent. One of his tank companies was wiped out, and two infantry companies were decimated. Although they had advanced two city blocks, the cost was truly heavy.
Tani Hisao cleared his throat; he had directly lost a battalion and a tank company.
"The situation is not quite as expected, and the losses in all directions are quite severe."
After looking around at everyone, Tani Hisao spoke.
Judging from their expressions, he could tell that their troops had also suffered considerable losses.
This made him feel a little better, since he wasn't the only one who got beaten up.
"How long until the fleet arrives?"
Nakajima Kesago asked, "Although the enemy has also suffered considerable losses, our losses are equally heavy. If this continues, I'm afraid this battle will become increasingly difficult."
"Around 4 p.m., there will be another 5,000 landing troops. At that time, Kunisaki Detachment will also have to draw some troops from Jiangbei to provide support."
Shimono Kazuho spoke up, "Victory will belong to us, but our current task is to annihilate all the remaining Nationalist troops and avenge the fallen Imperial Army soldiers."
Yoshizumi Ryosuke sat in a chair, feeling a bit dizzy. After all, only his troops had failed to capture a single block and had been pushed back by the enemy.
"Hurry up, these enemies are really a headache."
After capturing the Shimonoseki docks, these enemies had nowhere to run.
He now avoids even mentioning Li Jianghe's name, as it raises his blood pressure.
"Alright, let the forward troops maintain their basic offensive. Once the fleet arrives, use naval guns in conjunction with field guns to bombard them. I don't believe these enemies can withstand it."
Tani Hisao slammed his hand on the table and said.
The afternoon's attack was not as intense as expected.
The last time the Japanese army dropped incendiary and high-explosive bombs on a large scale, Li Jianghe's troops suffered heavy losses in all directions.
Originally, the total strength was more than 8,000 men, but after reinforcements, it is now only around 6,000 men.
As for merit points, they've already been mostly used up.
He left behind only 20,000 merit points as Li Jianghe's "life-saving money".
Relying on anti-aircraft machine guns for air defense was originally intended to be a surprise attack.
Now that the Japanese army has developed countermeasures, it is quite difficult for anti-aircraft machine guns to play their previous role.
The good news for Li Jianghe right now is that the battle lines are basically deadlocked, and his troops can wait until after dark to break out.
At 3 p.m., on the position of the military police led by Chief of Staff Xiao Shen.
The Japanese offensive was repelled once again, but the military police also suffered heavy losses overall.
The original force of over 5,000 people has been reduced to just over 2,000 after two days of fierce fighting.
This was only after Song Xilian provided some additional soldiers; otherwise, the number of people guarding this place would have been even smaller.
Chief of Staff Xiao Shen looked at the devastated battlefield and couldn't help but feel relieved.
In any case, at least the ammunition is still relatively full, and they can even call in artillery support occasionally.
Otherwise, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to hold out for a single day.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel grateful to Li Jianghe.
In such a critical situation, their generosity in donating hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and even providing artillery support can be described as turning the tide and saving the collapsing edifice.
At that moment, someone shouted:
"Chief of Staff, the iron ship! The Japanese's big iron ship is here!!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Shanling hurriedly picked up his binoculars and looked out at the distant river.
Sure enough, the Japanese flag had appeared on the river, and the menacing outlines of the warships were also revealed at this moment.
"boom!!!!"
A loud bang was heard.
Xiao Shanling subconsciously shrank his neck, and then heard a loud noise coming from the river behind him.
A civilian boat that was crossing the river was hit by a cannonball and torn to pieces.
The hundreds of civilians crowded on the ferry were instantly blasted to pieces by large-caliber naval gun shells.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"
The next moment, more naval guns opened fire, bombarding the Xiaguan Wharf and the ferries sailing on the river.
Regardless of whether the crowd at Shimonoseki Wharf consisted of soldiers or civilians, these Japanese warships only needed to carry out orders and provide fire coverage to the area.
"Boom!!!!!"
More shells continued to rain down on the crowded people at Xiaguan Wharf.
Each shell that explodes can take the lives of hundreds of people.
After the ferry capsized, the entire river surface was littered with broken stones, clothing, and screams of people.
The flowing blood even stained the river surface red.
Panic broke out among the crowd, who began shouting and moving away from the Xiaguan Wharf.
Seeing this, Song Xilian angrily pounded the ground with his fist and roared:
"These Japanese beasts, immediately evacuate the crowd and keep them away from the riverbank."
The Third and Fourth Regiments, move into the river defense positions immediately! The enemy is definitely going to land!!!
He knew very well that the Japanese naval bombardment of the area around Shimonoseki Wharf was not only for the purpose of slaughtering the soldiers and civilians on the shore, but also for the purpose of opening up a landing zone.
If you log in here, it won't be long before you can directly attack Yijiang Gate.
If Yijiang Gate is blocked, all the soldiers and civilians still in Nanjing will be completely besieged.
Upon realizing this, Song Xilian immediately gave the order:
"Go and inform Commander Li that the enemy fleet has arrived and has begun shelling the Xiaguan Wharf and river defense positions. Our unit will do its utmost to resist and prevent the Japanese from landing. We request..."
He originally wanted to ask for help, but when he got to this point, he thought of Li Jianghe, who was under even more pressure than he was.
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.
"There's no need to request reinforcements; my troops will delay the enemy as much as possible!"
As Song Xilian spoke, he took off his military cap and roared:
"Brothers of the 36th Division, follow me into the river defense positions! We won't let the Japanese invaders set foot on the riverbank!!!"