Chapter 112 The Defense of Jiangyin

Defending Jiangyin City was Huo Shouyi's 112th Division.

This was an old-fashioned Northeast Army, all of whom were from the Northeast.

Zhang Shaoshuai had equipped them well.

Before the September 18th Incident, the Northeast was the only region in the entire country with a complete army, navy, and air force.

Moreover, the Northeast had its own arsenal capable of producing machine guns and mortars.

Their production line was a complete set from the German Krupp Company.

The King of the Northeast at that time wasn't short of money either; Northeast soybeans were his exclusive commodity.

Therefore, the training of the entire Northeast Army was very standardized.

Well-equipped and properly trained, yet when foreign enemies invaded, the young marshal who controlled the Northeast did not resist, retreating into the interior.

Today, the officers and soldiers of the 112th Division had no retreat!

The Japanese had been heavily attacking Jiangyin City, surrounding and continuously attacking all four gates since the start of the battle today.

Huo Shouyi, the commander of the 112th Division, was in charge of the defense of Jiangyin County.

Defending the county seat was Ma Wanzhen, the commander of the 334th Brigade.

Liu Xing was most concerned about this place, as the fortress would be secure if Jiangyin did not fall.

The importance of Jiangyin to the entire fortress was self-evident.

Ogisu Rippi, the commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese army, was also very clear about this, so he sent ten tanks to assist in the battle.

The city walls of Jiangyin were too strong, and the Japanese Type 92 infantry guns could not damage them at all.

They simply couldn't breach the solid city walls.

The National Revolutionary Army soldiers guarding the city walls were also very tenacious. No matter how intense the Japanese artillery bombardment or how low the enemy planes strafed, the defending troops on the city walls did not retreat a single step.

This was also thanks to the solid fortifications built on the Jiangyin city walls.

As early as when the Japanese were attacking the Wu-Fu Line, Yuan Youren, the magistrate of Jiangyin County, had already sent people to build bunkers and fortifications on the city walls.

The reinforced concrete fortifications played a huge role at this time.

Faced with the crazy Japanese attack, Commander Liu Xing ordered Division Commander Huo Shouyi to organize a suicide squad to launch a counterattack out of the city.

Division Commander Huo said with a wry smile, "The Japanese firepower outside the city is very fierce right now, and there are many Japanese soldiers. A suicide squad of a hundred or so men simply can't break through.

Rushing out of the city gate will only increase casualties.

If we want to organize a suicide squad, we can only do it at night, when the Japanese have poor visibility, and then organize a team to rush out for a sneak attack."

Commander Liu Xing readily agreed, "Alright! It's all up to you!"

Surrounding Jiangyin County and attacking from four directions, the Japanese, seeing that they had been attacking for a long time without success, felt that instead of dispersing their forces to attack, they should concentrate their attack on one point.

Gradually, the Japanese concentrated all the troops attacking the south, north, and west gates to the east gate.

They changed from wanting to attack on all fronts at the beginning to focusing their attack on the east gate.

The people in the city also braved the artillery fire to organize themselves and transport the wounded to the defending soldiers.

They delivered hot meals.

More people stayed at home, listening to the intense sounds of gunfire outside.

All the shops and factories in Jiangyin City were closed and production was suspended.

There were very few people hurrying along the streets. County Magistrate Yuan had already told all the citizens about this situation:

When war comes, stay at home and keep your doors closed.

Try not to go out unless necessary.

If Jiangyin falls, everyone should try not to go out in the first few days.

Especially the young girls and women, be sure to hide well.

County Magistrate Yuan was really worried about the people of Jiangyin.

Now that the gunfire outside the city was intense, County Magistrate Yuan was not staying at home.

He was at the county middle school, which had now been converted into a wartime hospital.

One wounded soldier after another was sent here, and many teachers and students in the school acted as nurses, carefully wiping the wounds of these soldiers.

They sorted out the remains of the sacrificed heroes!

Just then, they suddenly heard gunfire outside Jiangmen that was much more intense than before.

At the same time, they heard a violent explosion in the air.

County Magistrate Yuan rushed out of the classroom and looked up at the sky:

A plane in the air was turning into pieces and falling towards Jiangyin City.

A Japanese attack plane had been shot down!

For the Japanese pilots, Jiangyin was a cursed forbidden zone.

They didn't dare to enter openly from high altitude to bomb and attack.

They could only quietly infiltrate at low altitude to cooperate with the attack on Jiangyin County.

Arakawa Kosuke did not expect that his good luck would suddenly run out.

After receiving the order, Lin Fan immediately led his team towards Jiangyin County.

When they were three or four *li* (a Chinese unit of distance, approximately 0.5 kilometers) away from the county seat, they saw six planes circling at low altitude.

The anti-aircraft guns immediately stopped and prepared to fire.

The disadvantage of anti-aircraft machine guns was that their range was too short, only 2,500 meters, which was completely sufficient for dealing with infantry or Japanese tanks.

It was too difficult to deal with Japanese planes.

Like now, they could clearly see the Japanese planes were low and close, but they couldn't hit them.

Fortunately, Lin Fan still had a gun!

The first shot destroyed Arakawa Kosuke's plane.

The second shot shot down another Japanese attack plane.

When the first Japanese plane crashed, neither the Japanese nor the 112th Division paid attention.

In the battlefield, any accident can happen.

Crashing a plane wasn't worth making a fuss about.

Two planes crashing in a row was not an accident.

The morale of the National Revolutionary Army soldiers was greatly boosted. These annoying flies overhead were not only annoying, but they were also powerful.

The damage caused by the four machine guns to the defending officers and soldiers was no less than that of the infantry attacking from the front.

When the third Japanese fighter plane exploded in the air.

The remaining planes had already fled in a panic, thanks to their low-altitude flight, they only had to dash forward slightly.

Lin Fan couldn't see them and couldn't hit them.

After driving away the enemy planes that had been circling over Jiangyin County, the soldiers of the Special Company continued to charge forward.

Lin Fan led the team from the west, and the Japanese were all in the east now.

The Special Company did not approach the city wall, and Lin Fan did not intend to enter the city.

They were outside the city, following the road the Japanese had just taken, and rushed towards the east gate of Jiangyin County.

The news that a Nationalist army reinforcement force had arrived from the west immediately reached the ears of the 26th Brigade Commander, Kujuro Torataro.

He heard that the arriving Nationalist army soldiers were traveling by car.

Brigade Commander Kujuro Torataro immediately ordered, "The 9th Cavalry Battalion attacks!"

The 9th Cavalry Battalion had been sitting on the bench since the start of the battle today.

As a cavalry battalion, they couldn't ride their horses to attack the city.

They were completely useless in today's city attack.

Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita had been thinking about taking on this task when he heard that there were Nationalist army troops operating outside the city.

Now that he heard that Brigade Commander Kujuro Torataro had really given him this task.

He excitedly saluted, "I guarantee that not a single Nationalist soldier will escape!"

Walking out of the brigade commander's temporary headquarters, Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita immediately ordered, "The whole team gathers! Attack immediately!

The target is west!"

All 773 soldiers of the entire 9th Cavalry Battalion shouted excitedly, "West! West! All the way west!"

Brigade Commander Kujuro Torataro listened to the passionate roars of the cavalry battalion outside, and watched the cavalry battalion rush out with full enthusiasm.

He was extremely satisfied in his heart: With such brave soldiers! What can't the empire conquer?

Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita rushed to the front of the team. He received the order to go west, so he rushed straight to the west gate.

Division Commander Huo Shouyi, who was observing the situation of the Japanese at the east gate, had just received an order, knowing that Commander Liu Xing had sent him the company with more than a thousand people to reinforce him.

He had just heard a phone call from the west of the city, knowing that the Special Company had shot down a Japanese plane as soon as they arrived.

He immediately had a good impression of this team. A team that could shoot down Japanese planes must be a good team.

When Division Commander Huo heard that this team had shot down the Japanese plane, they were unwilling to enter the city.

They detoured around the city from the outside to the south, and it seemed that they were preparing to go directly to the east gate to attack the Japanese.

At that time, Division Commander Huo felt that Company Commander Lin was too careless.

It would be much safer to enter Jiangyin City. In any case, with the protection of the city walls, it would be much safer.

Marching outside the city was very risky. What if they encountered the Japanese in the wild?

Watching the Japanese cavalry rushing towards the west of the city outside.

Division Commander Huo was already drumming in his heart: What if the Special Company encountered this Japanese cavalry?

He didn't dare to think: When infantry marched in the wild, encountering cavalry was only a matter of being ravaged.

And Division Commander Huo was sure that the Japanese cavalry that rushed out now must be going to find the Special Company that had just arrived and was still marching outside the city.

Thinking of this, Division Commander Huo anxiously ordered, "Quickly send someone to notify the Special Company that the Japanese cavalry battalion is going to them."

Now he had done everything he could, and the fate of the Special Company only depended on themselves.

After thinking about it again and again, Division Commander Huo finally couldn't bear it, and rushed towards the south of the city.

He really couldn't bear to see the Special Company, a team that was particularly good at artillery, being completely annihilated by the Japanese cavalry.

He would take a look at the south of the city, and if he could save them, he would try his best to save this team!

Lin Fan was still in the first car. When they had just walked outside the south city wall of Jiangyin.

Suddenly, they saw smoke and dust rising ahead, and a team of Japanese cavalry rushed out from the east.

The unexpected encounter shocked Lin Fan, and he ordered loudly, "Pull over, make way, let the cars behind come up too."

The anti-aircraft machine gun in his hand immediately opened fire.

Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita led his seven hundred elite soldiers, just turned the corner of the east city wall.

He saw a Nationalist army team three hundred meters away.

This was a team that was all transported by car.

This team obviously did not expect to encounter cavalry, and the head car actually drove into the side in a crooked manner.

Two more cars rushed up behind, blocking the entire road.

Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita couldn't help but frown: If they did this, they would completely block the road.

If his cavalry wanted to break through this interception line, they could only rush through the rice fields on the side.

If this was the case, the speed advantage of the cavalry would be completely blocked.

At this time, Division Commander Huo Shouyi, who had just rushed over from the east city wall, watched the Special Company's response to the sudden encounter with the Japanese cavalry in a daze.

In an instant, he understood the beauty of it, and couldn't help but cheer, "Great! Really great!"

Chief of Staff He Boxue beside him said nervously, "Division Commander! The brothers over there are in danger."

Huo Shouyi took a breath before saying, "No! Not necessarily, I have confidence in them.

To be able to think of using three cars to block the road in such a critical situation, and to prevent the Japanese cavalry from passing through all of a sudden.

Such a commander is not simple, let's see what they do next."

Lin Fan waited until his car had just stabilized, and immediately picked up the machine gun and opened fire.

The heavy machine gun set up on his car also opened fire.

On the three cars blocking the front, there were five heavy machine guns and one machine gun firing at the same time.

The fierce firepower blocked the road less than ten meters wide all at once.

This was not the end, but the beginning of the Special Company's counterattack.

Most of the soldiers in the cars behind had already gotten out of the cars and charged forward along the road.

The people who were still in the car at this time had already set up mortars, and someone was standing high on the roof of the car, acting as an observer.

Mortar shells whizzed up from these cars and smashed into the Japanese who were still charging on the road.

Cavalry has always been a team that only the brave can join.

When they charge, they always face the hail of bullets from the other side.

Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita has always been at the forefront.

This time was no exception!

The only exception was that there was a sharpshooter in the middle of the team in front, and the first shot blew Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita apart.

The anti-aircraft gun, which was originally used to hit planes, was used to directly shoot at the Japanese, and the power was simply needless to say.

It wasn't just Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita who suffered, the Japanese war horses charging in the front fell one after another.

Most of the Special Company's heavy machine guns were aimed at the Japanese war horses.

The larger the target, the easier it was to hit.

Cavalry were always united with their horses. The inertia brought about by the war horses falling at high speed used to be borne by the opponents.

Today, however, all of them were borne by these riders.

The war horses fell to the ground, and the riders were thrown out by inertia, either injured or disabled.

Huo Shouyi never expected that the Special Company, which he had imagined would suffer a big loss, did not happen.

On the contrary, the Japanese cavalry seemed to have been ambushed, and at least half of them were killed or wounded in this wave.

Especially when the mortars of the Special Company rang out.

Mortar shells exploded in the Japanese team.

Lin Fan's car was already stuck on the side of the road and couldn't move.

Now Lin Fan was no longer operating the machine gun. The power of this thing was great, and the rate of fire was fast.

But the bullets needed to be replaced after firing for a while.

He had already given way to Feng Junya.

Lin Fan himself was still operating the mortar, he was going to cut off the retreat of the Japanese.

The dishes that had already been served could not be returned.

The cavalry that had already entered his eyes could not be allowed to escape.

In the eyes of the Special Company's soldiers, these Japanese cavalry were bowls of meat.

The soldiers weren't really eating the flesh of the Huns when hungry and drinking the blood of the barbarians when thirsty. (The original text refers to a patriotic poem)

They were just interested in the Japanese war horses. For these soldiers, horse meat was also meat.

Although it tasted a bit hard and a bit rough, these were not problems. As long as it was meat, it was better than vegetables.

The car that had just rushed up from behind and stopped in the middle of the road was slowly moving forward.

On both sides of him, there were three soldiers holding light machine guns firing.

Behind these firing soldiers, there were several soldiers holding light machine guns waiting.

After the three machine gunners in front had run out of ammunition, they made way for them to come out.

They stood in the front again and continued to strafe.

Huo Shouyi saw this way of fighting, "Three-stage shooting method."

"Three-stage shooting method!" Chief of Staff He also said at the same time.

Three-stage shooting method: A group of three people, first the musketeer in the front shoots, and then retreats to the back of the team to concentrate on loading ammunition, and the second soldier steps forward to fire. The three alternate loading and firing.

This shooting method, which was popular in the last century, had long been eliminated.

He didn't expect it to appear in this company today, and the effect was so good.

"Thoughtful!" Huo Shouyi muttered to himself.

Behind this car, there were more soldiers following.

These soldiers were just following behind the vehicle, like escorts, welcoming a new bride.

The entire infantry team of the Special Company was advancing slowly.

Infantry charging towards cavalry?

This way of fighting made Huo Shouyi's understanding of the art of combat improve a lot all of a sudden.

There was no fixed way to fight in this world that was the best.

Only the most suitable.

The opposing Japanese 9th Cavalry Battalion, after Cavalry Battalion Commander Amano Akita was blown up.

They encountered fierce artillery fire in front again, and the entire cavalry team was in chaos.

Many cavalry had already reined their horses away from the road and rushed into the rice fields on the right.

Completely disregarding the war horses' difficult walking in the mud, the speed could not be increased at all.

These cavalry soldiers had already seen that the team on the opposite side had completely blocked the road in front.

The only road that could be charged quickly was blocked by five heavy machine guns.

Not to mention cavalry, not to mention infantry, even a mouse could not break through such a dense hail of bullets.

Therefore, even though these cavalry knew that these paddy fields were a trap, they had to jump down, preparing to spend some time to find a way out of the trap.

Huo Shouyi nodded and shook his head when he saw the Japanese cavalry reining their horses into the paddy fields.

He said to the soldiers beside him with a wry smile, "The Japanese's will to fight is indeed very firm.

In this situation, those Japanese did not even think about running away.

However, their choice to jump into the paddy fields is no different from sending themselves to death."

In fact, now the enemy and us are almost fighting with bayonets.

Although the distance between the two sides is still more than 200 meters, the bullets have reduced the distance between the two sides to zero.

At this time, whoever is stronger and has sharper knives will have the upper hand.

Obviously, the Special Company with continuous firepower has the absolute upper hand.

At a distance of more than 200 meters, the bullets fired from the Japanese cavalry guns were no longer accurate.