Rise From Eight Hundred

Because the remaining remnants of the Tengxian army evacuated under the cover of the 59th Army!

The Japanese army did not rest in Tengxian, causing the Battle of Taierzhuang to start nearly a week earlier than in the past!

But this does not mean that the degree of cruelty will be slightly less than in the past. In fact, because the tens of thousands of troops on both wings of Taierzhuang were "sweeping the snow in front of their own doors", there was no intention to send troops to support Taierzhuang in the central battlefield.

In the late stage of the battle, the two infantry brigades of the Japanese army even put the troops placed on the flanks to ensure safety into the attack on Taierzhuang.

Tang Dao could not see it with his own eyes, but through the battle reports forwarded by the two army commanders Wu and Zhang, which were sent from the division headquarters to the Fifth War Zone, he could see it clearly!

"On the morning of March 18, more than 2,000 Japanese troops, with the support of airplanes, artillery and tanks, began to launch a massive attack on our positions.

The 1st Battalion of the 186th Regiment, which defended the north gate of our Taierzhuang position, resisted tenaciously under the command of Regiment Commander Wang Zheng and Battalion Commander Jiang, and fought hand-to-hand with the Japanese outside the north gate of the city, repelling multiple attacks by the Japanese. Because the 1st Battalion was a new recruit, almost all of them died in the north gate position in this battle, and Battalion Commander Jiang died for his country."

On the night of March 18, 200 Japanese soldiers broke through the Xiaobei Gate and hid in the Taishan Temple near the Xiaobei Gate. Regiment Commander Wang Zheng personally led his soldiers to besiege the enemy in the Taishan Temple and finally eliminated them.

On the 19th, the Japanese army repeatedly attacked various parts of our positions and broke into the village many times. Our troops fought tenaciously and launched a fierce battle with the Japanese army. ”

“On the 20th, the Japanese army bombarded the walls of Taierzhuang with heavy artillery, the northern wall was blown down, the Xiaobei Gate was also destroyed, and the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 181st Regiment guarding the Xiaobei Gate were almost all killed, and more than 300 Japanese soldiers broke into the city! ”

“On the 21st, the Japanese army attacked the northwest corner of Taierzhuang and sought to seize the west gate, trying to cut off the connection between our division headquarters and the various units in the village. The commander of our division personally commanded and suppressed the Japanese army with artillery fire, and organized a 60-man death squad with the division headquarters guard battalion to fight the enemy hand-to-hand and finally recaptured the position! ”

“On the 22nd, the Japanese Seya Detachment provided additional support and occupied the eastern half of our position! The 2nd Battalion of the 186th Regiment defending the position lost 500 people! ”

“On the 23rd, the Japanese army completely occupied all the outer positions of our division. The three regiments of our division stationed in the outer periphery all suffered more than 70% casualties. One regiment was surrounded by the Japanese invaders and cut off contact with our division headquarters. Only two battalions of soldiers were left in the core position! "

Only six days, an infantry division with four infantry regiments and two direct battalions had more than 5,000 casualties. It can be imagined how fierce the battle was.

At this time, the division was already exhausted!

But the Japanese army still did not completely occupy the entire Taierzhuang position. At least one-third of the position was still firmly in the hands of the Chinese army.

Perhaps, they only need two more days to completely occupy this position they have dreamed of, and completely kill the opponent who caused them heavy casualties.

Unfortunately, Tang Dao knew that they had no chance.

Not only were they at the end of their strength, but also because the 59th Army and the 63rd Army had already moved.

Perhaps it was not just these two infantry armies. The general surnamed Tang did not seek to fight, but his vision for grabbing credit was very sharp.

One of his infantry armies actually obeyed the order of the Fifth War Zone. The three infantry armies set out on a hurried march from their original station a hundred miles away.

All three infantry armies set out on the evening of the 23rd. When the Japanese reconnaissance planes found countless Chinese troops attacking the Japanese army from three sides at 8 a.m., the three infantry army vanguard regiments were less than 10 kilometers away from Taierzhuang.

20 miles, for the light infantry advancing at full speed, is only a matter of 2 hours.

I don’t know how scared the pilots of the Japanese reconnaissance planes were, but half an hour later, the two Japanese troops on the two wings of Taierzhuang immediately withdrew from the positions in the village that had been completely occupied. The scene of fleeing to the north without dragging away a large number of baggage has already revealed their panic.

In just one night, the Japanese army, which originally had a winning advantage and even looked forward to rushing to Xuzhou, had to fight for their lives. This really made the indoor shrouds who were still waiting for the good news of victory in Pingcheng want to yell "Baga! "

However, the lives of tens of thousands of imperial infantrymen were not waiting for him to start chopping tables and benches with knives. He quickly called the staff of the Operations Department to ask where the nearest Japanese troops were and whether they could send troops there to reinforce.

But unfortunately, the nearest Japanese troops were also 60 miles away. What's more terrible is that the Japanese troops were facing a Chinese army that was three times larger than theirs. If they gave up the positions that had already taken shape, it would be a question whether they could protect themselves.

The indoor shroud, who was stunned by the bad news, seemed to have forgotten that the Japanese side had invested more than 200,000 troops in the entire Battle of Xuzhou, while the Chinese side, which was short of firepower, had invested nearly 600,000 troops to compete with them.

"It's over! "The then commander of the Japanese North China Front Army sat slumped in his armchair on such a warm spring morning and uttered such a whine!

It was for the two Japanese infantry brigades that began to run away frantically, and for himself.

He knew that he could throw all the responsibility to the idiot Xia Xiongyuan after losing more than 4,000 people in the battle of Jindong, but if he lost two infantry brigades in this battle, no one could take the blame, only he, the commander of the front army, could take it!

"The Chinese planned this!" Lieutenant General Kawagishi Fumizo, the chief of staff of the front army, who also had dull eyes, suddenly realized.

Inner room shroud waved his hand, not wanting to waste any more words with his subordinate. If he couldn't see that this was a long-planned plan by the Chinese, wouldn't he be worse than a pig?

Could it be that those 60,000 or 70,000 Chinese fell from the sky? The Chinese had been waiting for this day for a long time!

Pig: I'm so stupid!

The commander-in-chief and the lieutenant general chief of staff of the Japanese North China Front Army knew that the two infantry brigades with more than 10,000 people left were finished.

Yes, even though the Japanese had reconnaissance planes, they at least gave the two Japanese troops a two-hour advance warning. The Japanese army's marching speed is naturally not slow, at least faster than the Chinese soldiers, but how could the Chinese army give them a chance?

The first ones to rush over must be light infantry. Under the rapid march at all costs, the 2-hour time difference will be made up quickly.

The light infantry does not need to fight the Japanese army desperately. All they have to do is delay them and reduce their marching speed. When the main force arrives, it will be the end of the Japanese.

As for whether the Japanese army wants to abandon all the baggage and heavy artillery and become light infantry, and come to the wilderness of northern Jiangsu with a wave of pure light infantry?

They really don't dare.

Because they couldn't be sure if there was another Chinese army hiding in front of them. If there was another one, they would have to let the Chinese army, which was four or five times stronger than them, crush them without artillery and tanks, and they would not even have the strength to resist.

The two Japanese infantry brigades, anxious but worried about gains and losses, did not have the opportunity to occupy the county town as they did in the past. When their vanguard was still ten miles away from the county town, the flag of an infantry regiment of the 59th Army was planted above the wall of the county town.

A county town occupied by an infantry regiment was enough for this Japanese army to attack for half a day!

Obviously, they didn't have the time this time, and the nearest Chinese army was already ten miles away.

The two Japanese major generals who had completely lost their last hope showed extraordinary courage at this moment. They built fortifications on the spot on a hilly field, trying to hold on and wait for help.

The reason why the Japanese army was determined to defend to the death was also very simple. The empire would not abandon tens of thousands of imperial warriors.

Yes, the North China Front Army certainly would not give up this imperial army that had been beaten to a pulp in the Battle of Taierzhuang, not to mention that the two infantry brigades, one belonging to Itagaki Seijiro's Fifth Division and the other to Isogai Ren's Tenth Division, were both ace troops.

Indoor shrouds could not reinforce the battlefield with infantry, but they could send out large-scale bomber formations to carry out air strikes on the pursuing Chinese army.

Unfortunately, this battle of luring the enemy was completed under the personal command of the commander of the Fifth Theater of War in China, who had long anticipated this move by the Japanese.

In order to ensure the annihilation of this Japanese army, he almost emptied all the air defense battalions in Xuzhou City, almost turning his base camp into an air defenseless one.

A total of six air defense battalions, dozens of 20mm anti-aircraft guns and 8 88mm anti-aircraft guns all entered the Taierzhuang battlefield.

The war has not yet begun, the ground-to-air war comes first!

Amid the explosions, nearly six Japanese planes were shot down, but they failed to stop three infantry armies and six infantry divisions with nearly 70,000 troops from encircling more than 10,000 Japanese remnants.

By 5 p.m., the last gap in the encirclement was also blocked!

The Chinese army, which was extremely tired from marching all night, did not give the Japanese any time to breathe. The six infantry divisions gathered more than 40 artillery pieces and bombarded the Japanese troops in the encirclement for up to 2 hours.

Normally, a Japanese infantry division has 60 artillery pieces of various calibers, and its firepower is far superior to that of a Chinese infantry army.

Even if these two elite infantry brigades each carried 105 howitzers, 75 mountain guns, and 75 field guns when they came, with a total of more than 30 artillery pieces, they were not something that an infantry army could contend with.

But this time, there were three infantry armies, and their six infantry divisions had artillery of different calibers, from 82mm mortars to 75mm mountain guns, and even some Italian guns. Let's not talk about their power for now, the key is the quantity.

At least in terms of heavy firepower, the Chinese army was not inferior to the remnants of the Japanese army this time.

After two hours of crazy bombardment, according to statistics after the war, more than 3,000 shells were fired, with an average of more than 80 shells per gun.

Among them, the 63rd Army and the 59th Army were the most. They had carefully prepared for this battle for more than a month. Two lieutenant generals stayed at the war zone quartermaster's office for a whole day just to drag dozens of shells back.

No matter how hard the previous battles were, they were reluctant to let go and fire, waiting for this day.

The two infantry armies consumed 70% of the number of shells they carried in this first artillery battle.

Although the infantry army under the 20th Army did not fire as many shells, they were the principal's direct line and equipped with good guns!

There were 12 guns, all of which were new Bofors mountain guns. They not only had a long range but also fired accurately. They even dared to fire at the Japanese 105 howitzers.

To quote Tang Dao's original words: These bastards are not good at fighting head-on, but they are still very hard at beating the drowned!

If the Japanese army, which is very good at civil engineering, had a few more hours, perhaps they could rely on trenches and anti-gun holes to withstand this wave of overwhelming shells, but unfortunately, the Chinese opposite them knew their characteristics very well, and at most gave them time to dig trenches half a meter deep.

Without enough fortifications to block the bombardment of 3,000 shells, the Japanese finally felt the pain their opponents suffered in Songhu.

Seeing one infantry squad after another merge into the position under the Chinese artillery fire, they were powerless.

By eight o'clock in the evening, a total of six infantry regiments tried to attack the Japanese invaders. The exhausted Japanese army also burst out with extremely strong combat effectiveness. Facing nearly 10,000 troops who were no weaker than themselves, they launched a counterattack and repelled a total of four rounds of attacks by the Chinese army within two hours.

However, they had no time to cheer for their victory, and another wave of attacks came.

Because the Chinese army invested another six infantry regiments, and what was more fatal was that the numbers were different.

The biggest advantage of the Chinese army over the Japanese army at this time was not how fierce the heavy firepower was, but that we had more people.

There were as many as 20 infantry regiments in the front line of infantry alone. If the direct battalions and reserve forces of each division were added, the total number could reach 33 infantry regiments.

This night alone, nearly 6 waves could be exchanged!

Moreover, the temporary command headed by General Wu did the same this time. In order to avoid being caught by this wave of Japanese troops, they were determined to resolve the battle in the shortest time.

Throughout the night, a total of 24 infantry regiments were dispatched to attack the Japanese positions in turn, and the battle did not stop all night.

In the early morning, many Japanese soldiers with red eyes cried with excitement.

Because they thought they would never see the morning sun again, but in the end, they still had a chance to see it.

Then, the sound of artillery sounded again!

The battle came again.

The three infantry armies formed an iron barrel formation, but the attack points were roughly only four corners in the southeast, northwest and northeast. The infantry armies under the 63rd Army and the 20th Army were responsible for one of them, and the 59th Army was responsible for two of them. Three of them were focused on attack, and one was mainly a feint attack.

As for the infantry division, it used a rotation system. After fighting for 2 hours, an infantry regiment immediately retreated to the trenches that had been dug behind to rest, and another infantry regiment went up, and so on. On average, an infantry regiment could rest for about 6 hours in 24 hours.

The Chinese army had a large number of people, so they could do this, but the Japanese couldn't stand it!

For two whole nights and one day, the Japanese army resisted the attack of the Chinese army, which was stronger in strength and firepower than them, and demonstrated the combat effectiveness of the elite divisions of the Japanese army to the fullest.

Even Commander Wu, who had fought fiercely with the Japanese Tenth Army in Songjiang, was secretly amazed at the combat effectiveness of this wave of Japanese troops.

You know, this group of Japanese troops had fought fiercely for 6 days and nights in Taierzhuang, and they were exhausted mentally, physically, and ammunition.

As a result, in the face of such a fierce battle, they actually held on for another 36 hours.

If the Japanese troops he encountered in Songjiang were so fierce and tough, his 63rd Army might not only fail to complete the task of blocking the enemy, but might even die in Songjiang City.

That was because Commander Wu overestimated the Japanese army and underestimated himself.

Human potential is actually very large, it depends on how you force it!

If the 63rd Army guarding Songjiang that day was ordered to defend for 30 days instead of 3 days like Hengyang in the future, the Tenth Army might not be able to capture it even if it finally broke its teeth.

And why this wave of Japanese troops was so tenacious and tough, it was probably because they burst out 200% of their potential under the fear of death.

However, potential is not infinite, and there will always be a moment when it is exhausted.

At that time, all the struggles before were just a flash of light before destruction.

The 36-hour round of fighting caused more than 7,000 casualties in the three Chinese infantry armies! There were hundreds of carriages carrying corpses alone.

No one on the Japanese side calculated that the encirclement of 60,000 to 70,000 people was so large that even flies could not fly through it, let alone people.

Even if they could still breathe at this moment, the Chinese soldiers who were also killing with bloodshot eyes had already regarded them as dead.

Because even after 36 hours, an infantry division of the Japanese army rushing to support from the north was still a hundred miles away.

Moreover, another infantry army of the 20th Army had been ordered to stop the enemy. There was no need to fight to the death, but only to delay its marching speed.

The last struggle of the indoor shroud has become Song Jiang's military advisor--Wu Yong!

"Victory!" This was the telegram sent by General Wu to Tang Dao at noon on the 26th.

Thousands of miles away, Tang Dao, who had been pacing back and forth in the regiment headquarters, clenched his fists and felt relieved!

Finally, it was done!

In a farther place, the shroud was slumped on the chair, his face was gray.

And another fifty-year-old man with three gold stars on his collar badge smiled in his office.

That was the brightest smile he had had in the past ten days.

Taierzhuang, stained with blood, was a place of extreme sacrifice, but also of extreme glory!

. . . . . .

PS: Feng Yue's new book "I Can Bury Everything" will be available at 0:00 am on December 1st. Yes, just one and a half hours later. I hope that book friends who see it can go and support it. Thank you very much!