PFC Chapter 53 The Defense of Yuhuatai: Two Japanese Artillery Pistols Bombard the Battle
Chapter 53 The Defense of Yuhuatai: Two Japanese Artillery Pistols Bombard the Battle
Tang Shengzhi then suppressed his anger and coldly said to Li Jianghe:
"If you hold Yuhuatai and prevent the Japanese army from advancing an inch, the people in the city will naturally be safe!"
After saying that, he waved his hand, signaling Li Jianghe to leave the command post.
As Li Jianghe walked out of the command post, he lit a cigarette, finding it rather ironic.
Not long after, many officers came out after the meeting and looked at Li Jianghe. Some looked at him with disdain, while others looked at him with sympathy.
At this moment, Chief of Staff Xiao Shen's voice came.
"Jiang He, don't worry about it. Just focus on fighting well at Yuhuatai."
Song Xilian, who had just spoken up for him, also came over and patted Li Jianghe on the shoulder, saying:
"Commander Li, you're a great fighter, but you also need to be politically aware. There are some things you can't say carelessly."
Li Jianghe looked at Song Xilian, who was also a formidable figure, and whose subsequent battle to blockade Fujinshan was a resounding success.
The Japanese 13th Division suffered heavy losses, with over 10,000 casualties, yet still could not break through their defenses.
Li Jianghe smiled wryly and said:
"Thank you both for your advice. I will fight to the death, but it will be a hardship for the people of Nanjing."
The three exchanged ideas again, mainly asking about the details of the surprise attack on the Japanese army that day. Li Jianghe gave a brief account, which greatly impressed the two of them.
After all, this form of warfare was unheard of, and could be described as an improved version of a cavalry raid.
Upon returning to Zhonghua Gate, Li Jianghe discovered that the city gate had been closed, preventing people from entering or leaving.
With no other option, he asked someone for a rope, tied it to the battlement, and then climbed down from the city wall to return to Yuhuatai.
Li Jianghe knew that this was most likely Tang Shengzhi's order to completely block the retreat of the Yuhuatai garrison and force them to fight to the death.
He sneered inwardly. He had blocked the retreat of the defending troops, but left himself an escape route. This Commander-in-Chief Tang was truly two-faced.
On the 9th, the main force of the Japanese army advanced to the south of Yuhuatai and began to send small units to conduct close reconnaissance.
The 6th and 114th Divisions, responsible for the main attack on Yuhuatai, formed a joint command.
"Let our 114th Division lead the attack on the first day."
"It was Shigeharu Suematsu, commander of the 114th Division, who spoke without hesitation."
His division was formed temporarily, originally a reserve division of the 14th Division, so he was very proactive in combat, wanting to accumulate merits and establish achievements through this operation.
Chief of Staff Kazuo Shimotsuke was about to say something, but Hisao Tani preemptively spoke:
"Great! Our army suffered heavy losses during the attack on Niushou Mountain and needs to wait for a batch of weapons and personnel to be replenished."
As he said this, he was thinking to himself that the troops stationed at Yuhuatai were Li Jianghe's Provisional Third Regiment.
This is a tough nut to crack. Rather than sending the 6th Division to their deaths, it's better to let the eager-to-achieve-merit Shigeharu Suematsu test the enemy's strength first.
When Suematsu Shigeharu saw that Tani Hisao had voluntarily given up the main attacking role, he was first surprised, and then felt a bit of contempt.
Hmph, it seems they were terrified by Li Jianghe's Provisional Third Regiment that night.
Mr. Tani Hisao, when did you become so cunning and cowardly in battle?
He was full of confidence, believing that the 6th Division suffered heavy losses that night because of underestimating the enemy and being careless, as well as the enemy's ability to move swiftly with the assistance of trucks, making them difficult to deal with.
Yuhuatai is not going to move right now. In this kind of positional attack and defense, the outcome depends on the firepower and fighting spirit of both sides. Suematsu Shigeharu is convinced that the National Army, which is short of ammunition, will be defeated within three days.
"Alright then, it seems our 114th Division will be the one to take Zhonghua Gate."
Shigeharu Suematsu chuckled, looking confident of victory.
Hisao Tani simply smiled and said nothing.
He was waiting; it would be dangerous to be at the forefront at this time, facing an enemy that was almost entirely unknown.
On the morning of the 10th, Matsui Iwane issued the order for a general offensive, to blow the entire city of Nanjing to smithereens.
On Yuhuatai, the Japanese 114th Division and the 6th Division concentrated nearly two hundred artillery pieces of different calibers to bombard Yuhuatai.
In less than ten minutes, thousands of shells rained down on the 1.5-square-kilometer area of Yuhuatai.
Putting down his binoculars, Shigeharu Suematsu smiled, quite satisfied with the intensity of the firepower coverage.
"With this level of firepower, even ants would be blasted into powder."
Chief of Staff Saburo Isoda, standing nearby, agreed:
"I see the soldiers rushing up; they don't need to fight, they just need to clear away the shredded enemy corpses."
Both men were convinced that the enemy could not survive under such firepower, and that the battle would not last long and would be much easier than many of the battles they had experienced before.
On the north slope of Yuhuatai, the soldiers hid in the tunnels they had dug the previous two days to avoid Japanese artillery fire.
These tunnel defense works were dug by engineering squads. Dozens of engineering squads worked almost non-stop to dig the defense works on the reverse slope, and they were not afraid of Japanese artillery bombardment at all.
He sneered inwardly, thinking that such an intensity of bombardment was not enough to penetrate the defenses of this tunnel fortification.
After all, the later Chinese People's Volunteer Army used this type of reverse-sloping tunnel fortification, which could even withstand bombardment equivalent to "Van Fleet's ammunition load" (consuming 36 shells in nine days).
Finally, the sound of artillery fire gradually subsided, and Li Jianghe's orders echoed in the tunnel.
"Brothers, take up position, fight to the death!!!!"
"Yes!! Fight to the death!!!"
Amidst roars, the soldiers decisively followed the tunnel exit and entered the forward position.
At the same time, the artillery hidden in the cave was pulled out and deployed to its positions, ready to provide support to the front at any time.
In its first wave of attack, the Japanese army dispatched an infantry battalion, while simultaneously deploying a large number of machine guns, grenade launchers, and Type 92 infantry guns in the rear as supporting firepower.
These Japanese soldiers, in small detachments, advanced in alternating cover, like surging waves, rapidly approaching the position.
Following Li Jianghe's orders, the soldiers remained hidden in their trenches and did not rush to open fire.
Just as these Japanese soldiers were about to approach the front line, a series of loud explosions suddenly rang out.
Anti-personnel mines buried in front of the position were triggered.
The warhead of "Bouncing Betty" jumps to waist height before exploding with a bang.
The shrapnel from the explosion, amplified by the shockwave, flew like blades, tearing through Japanese uniforms and skin with a shrill sound, and embedding itself in their internal organs, flesh, and even bones.
The Japanese soldiers wounded by landmine shrapnel let out piercing screams, like the wailing of ghosts and howls of wolves.
Numerous shrapnel fragments embedded themselves in their flesh, causing pain akin to being pricked by needles and burned by fire.
"Sappers!!!"
The Japanese forward commander roared, and sappers advanced to clear the landmines.
But just as the engineers crawled forward, Li Jianghe said to Long Wenzhang beside him:
"Wait until the Japanese engineers get close, then detonate the bomb."
This is a carefully set trap.
Not far in front of the landmine were actually bombs planted in advance by sappers, which were detonated by a detonator.
They were waiting for the Japanese engineers to clear the mines, and then they would focus their attacks on them.