HCB Chapter 165 The War Begins (2)
Chapter 165 The War Begins (2)
矶谷廉介没有给三十三旅团的旅团长濑谷启少将开空头支票，他给三十三旅团增派了独立机关枪第10大队、轻装甲车第10中队和第12中队、野战炮兵第10联队、野战重炮兵第2联队、炮兵联队第3榴弹炮大队、野战炮兵九零野炮中队、以及一个山炮中队，他这一增加三十三旅团的重火力配置，都快把这个旅团弄成一个丙等师团的规模了。
At the beginning of the battle, various artillery pieces of the Japanese army cooperated with the planes in the air to cause great casualties to the officers and soldiers of the 102nd Division in Taierzhuang. The rd Regiment of the rd Brigade was responsible for the frontal attack. This regiment had not suffered any losses since its attack to the south. It was fully equipped and in high morale. After receiving the order from the brigade commander, the regiment commander, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei, was extremely excited. You know, there were so many troops assigned to cooperate with him in the attack this time, which almost made him experience the joy of being a brigade commander.
The Japanese attack on the first day was mainly exploratory, but the Japanese artillery fired very happily. They had no opponents here. They had not experienced a decent artillery battle since they moved south, which made them focus all their energy on the Chinese infantry.
In the evening of that day, the Japanese army used its advantage in artillery to successfully blow down a section of the city wall. A squadron of Japanese soldiers took the opportunity to occupy the gap and rushed into the city. That night, the officers of the 102nd Division decided not to organize a night attack to recapture the gap, because even if the gap was recaptured tonight, the Japanese artillery would still blow up more gaps the next day. The officers of the 102nd Division wanted to let the Japanese army into the city to fight street fighting. Only by letting the Japanese army into the city could the threat of Japanese heavy artillery be weakened to the greatest extent.
The next day, the Japanese artillery really destroyed several other parts of the city wall. More and more Japanese troops entered the city through different gaps and engaged in brutal street fighting with the officers and soldiers of the 102nd Division.
After entering the city, the Japanese army was surprised to find that the 102nd Division had soldiers defending every street and every house in the city. Therefore, the Japanese army could only fight for the houses and streets occupied by the Japanese army during the day, and the 102nd Division would organize death squads to use night raids at night to retake the places lost during the day.
Although the threat of Japanese heavy artillery was weakened a lot as the Japanese army entered the city, the various types of mountain artillery and field artillery assigned by the Japanese army brought heavy casualties to the 102nd Division. Moreover, the houses and streets in Taierzhuang were all built of brick and stone structures. Often when a shell was fired, the flying broken bricks and stones caused many unexpected casualties to the guarding officers and soldiers.
By the third day of the battle, more than half of the 102th Brigade of the 210nd Division, which was responsible for guarding the village, had suffered casualties, and a quarter of the entire Taierzhuang had been occupied by the Japanese army. As a last resort, Division Commander Huang could only send a regiment from the supplementary brigade to reinforce the battle in the village.
However, starting from the fourth day, the Japanese army suddenly increased the intensity of their small-caliber artillery attacks. They pushed their artillery into the city and fired directly at the solid walls of the houses, blasting large holes in the walls. Some walls even collapsed. Then the Japanese army used mortars and grenade launchers to carry out precise strikes on the courtyards and houses held by the Chinese defenders, which caused even greater losses to the defending 102nd Division troops.
By noon that day, two battalions of Japanese soldiers had entered the city and successfully occupied all areas north of Taierzhuang.
"Division Commander, we can't go on like this. It's only the fourth day and the Japanese have already occupied half of the village. There are now less than one regiment of officers and soldiers from the 210th Brigade guarding the village. The losses of the newly added regiment from the supplementary brigade have also been heavy." Chief of Staff Zhao Dong said worriedly to Division Commander Huang in the operations hall of the division headquarters on the south bank of the canal.
Division Commander Huang looked at the map in front of him, threw the pencil in his hand on the map, then took out a cigarette, lit it and started smoking. After a while, he said, "Brother Zhao, this battle is no less brutal than the previous battle of the 11th Division in Luodian. Now the strategic concept of the entire Fifth War Zone is centered on this village we are defending. We have no other choice but to defend it to the death."
After hearing what Commander Huang said, Chief of Staff Zhao Dong understood that the 102nd Division had no other way to go. Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone held a press conference two days ago. At the press conference, he told all the reporters that the 102nd Division was stubbornly defending Taierzhuang, and stated at the press conference that it was impossible for the Japanese army to break through the 102nd Division's defense line. Although this achieved the purpose of attracting the Japanese army, it also stimulated the Japanese army's morbid self-esteem and attracted a lot of hatred for the 102nd Division. Sure enough, starting from yesterday, the Japanese army increased the firepower of the attack, which also greatly increased the pressure on the defenders in the village.
"Report, Commander Chen's telegram." The communications staff officer came over with a telegram and reported to Chief of Staff Zhao Dong.
Chief of Staff Zhao Dong grabbed the telegram and read it quickly, "Brother Zhao, what did Commander Chen say?" Commander Huang asked Chief of Staff Zhao Dong with concern.
Chief of Staff Zhao Dong did not speak, but handed the telegram to Division Commander Huang with a wry smile, asking him to read the contents himself. Division Commander Huang took the telegram and read it. The content of the telegram was very short, with only eight words: "Fight for the country, hold fast and never retreat."
After reading the contents of the telegram, Division Commander Huang also said with a wry smile: "Brother Zhao, send the regiment of the supplementary brigade into the village as well. Organize a suicide squad to attack at night and try to seize back some territory. We will continue to fight the Japanese army like this. There are still three days until the defense time stipulated by the war zone. Even if we have to fight to the death, we must defend Taierzhuang. In addition, send a telegram to the war zone and ask it to dispatch a troop to assist us in defending the flank, so that we can withdraw the 211th Brigade from the flank position and reinforce the battle in the village at any time."
Chief of Staff Zhao Dong also knew that the telegram sent by Commander Chen was an order from the highest level. If they lost Taierzhuang, they would either die on the battlefield or be killed by military law. After hearing the order from Commander Huang, he calmed down and immediately turned around to execute the order.
Ever since the Japanese army began to attack Taierzhuang, Zhang Wenwu and several people from the Quartermaster Department have been transporting weapons and ammunition needed by the front-line troops from Xuzhou to the division headquarters on the south bank of the canal. Now, Zhang Wenwu and Cao Huaguo are sitting on a train transporting the wounded to Xuzhou. Looking at the wounded groaning around them, Zhang Wenwu and Cao Huaguo feel very uncomfortable in their hearts. They both stand by the door of the train's sealed carriage, leaning against the open door and smoking.
"Director Zhang, how long can our division hold Taierzhuang? The wounded are being transported to the rear every day. If we continue fighting, our division will be wiped out." Cao Huaguo asked in a low voice in front of Zhang Wenwu. He was very worried. If the troops were wiped out, he would have to change troops again after working so hard to join the Central Army, only to have a few days' enjoyment.
Zhang Wenwu looked at the plump Cao Huaguo and said with emotion, "Huaguo, this time is different from usual. Now the core of the entire war zone is in the village where our division is defending. I heard from the division headquarters that the top leaders and Commander Chen have also ordered us to defend it to the death. Who knows how long we have to defend it? According to the previous statement of the war zone, we have to defend it for three more days, but the division commander and the chief of staff are ready to defend it for another six days. By then, we may be pushed into the village."
When Cao Huaguo heard that he might be thrown into the farm, he immediately became a little nervous. He didn't think Zhang Wenwu was scaring him. Every day he and Zhang Wenwu took the train to Xuzhou to collect weapons and ammunition. Every day they took the train to transport the wounded. He saw the casualty rate with his own eyes. He also calculated in his mind every day how many people were left in the army, and the conclusion he got was very pessimistic.
"But with such heavy casualties, even if we all go up, we may not be able to defend the village. The war zone hasn't sent us any reinforcements. It's really shameful." Cao Huaguo also took a puff of his cigarette and complained. In his opinion, the war zone was deliberately consuming the strength of the Central Army.
Zhang Wenwu heard Cao Huaguo's complaint and explained, "There are more than 200,000 troops in the battlefield now, but most of them are not strong, and they have suffered heavy losses before. Now these troops can only play a role in restraining the Japanese flank. The only one with combat power is the 20th Corps of the Central Army. They are now ordered to attack the Japanese troops in Zaozhuang to confuse the Japanese. When the time comes, they will turn their entire army to attack the flank of the Japanese army attacking Taierzhuang. So, we can only hold on here."
After hearing Zhang Wenwu's explanation, Cao Huaguo understood the war zone's combat plan. He also knew that what Zhang Wenwu said was the actual situation. Now the war zone really could not send strong reinforcements to reinforce the 102nd Division, so they had to rely on themselves for everything.
Zhang Wenwu turned his head and looked at the car full of wounded brothers. Two medical soldiers were shuttling between the wounded and taking care of them. After watching for a while, Zhang Wenwu called one of the medical soldiers and said, "Brother, you have worked hard. Come over and have a cigarette and take a break."
The medic came to the car door and took the cigarette handed over by Zhang Wenwu with a bit of flattery. Cao Huaguo quickly lit it for him. Looking at the medic's hands covered in blood, he also said with emotion: "Brother, your job is really not easy."
After taking two puffs of his cigarette, the medic relaxed his tense spirit and said to the two men with a wry smile, "Hey, thank you Commander Zhang and this commander for your concern. We can't help the frontline much, so we can only do some hard work and try to keep more brothers alive. It's okay to be a little tired, it's what we should do. This is much more comfortable than those brothers who are holding on in the village."
"Oh? Have you been to the village? Are you from the 210th Brigade? What's the situation inside the village?" When Zhang Wenwu heard that this medical soldier had been in the village, he immediately became interested and asked quickly.
The medic took another puff of his cigarette, looked at Zhang Wenwu and said, "Captain Zhang, I'm from the 210th Brigade's medical team. I've been in charge of treating and transporting the wounded in the village. It's too miserable in the village now. When I left the village, there were less than 655 people in the 656th and th Regiments. I heard from the brothers who retreated ahead that the Japanese army brought artillery into the city and fired at the yard we were guarding at close range. Many brothers were killed or injured by flying rocks. You said this broken village, and I don't know who built it. What did they do with so many broken rocks?"
(Thanks to the gifts from Braised Cat Lovers, I am Brother Liu, Duke Wei who loves beef jerky, Chenyuan, the golden Inaba Jizi, Li Xunle who loves stir-fried cowpeas, Jiang Yao who likes baby corn, Lu Yilin who likes to chop melons, Wu Ai Wu Hen, Zhi Xia Xia, and Uncle Yang who loves Ning Ji sausages! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)
(Today's third chapter is a little late, I sincerely apologize to everyone! In addition, if there are readers on their way home, I wish you a safe journey!)