Rise From Eight Hundred

Shigeharu Suematsu was very angry. As the vanguard of the 10th Army, the 114th Division's pace of advancement was naturally faster.

However, at 4 pm, the main force of the 114th Division had already gathered on the south bank of the Huangpu River, and the 2nd Cavalry Squadron of the 18th Cavalry Regiment and its machine gun squadron, together with the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 115th Infantry Regiment, which was designated as the vanguard, had crossed the simple floating bridge that the Engineer Regiment had spent several hours building an hour ago.

However, the vanguard troops of the 114th Division did not advance rashly because of the division commander's anger. According to the intelligence from the Songhu Expeditionary Force Headquarters, a Chinese infantry army had already arrived at Songjiang City.

Shigeharu Suematsu was somewhat self-aware and knew that he was still unable to attack Songjiang City, which was defended by an infantry army, by relying on his own strength. He must not get angry and then get angry.

The 1st Infantry Battalion, which was originally the vanguard of the siege, was more like a unit responsible for the defense of the division's main force when crossing the river than a vanguard.

By the way, we also need to provide support for the unlucky guys in the 18th Cavalry Regiment.

After the lesson of Fujimoto Ichi, the 18th Cavalry Regiment never dared to rush into the hills and woods so boldly when searching and reconnaissance near Songjiang. They always kept the main force behind and sent out the cavalry squad to check first.

Moreover, the 18th Cavalry Regiment did not dare to go beyond the attack radius of the four mountain guns of the artillery squadron of the 115th Infantry Regiment that were transported across the river with the 1st Infantry Battalion.

The angry Suematsu Shigeharu did not lose his composure. He also knew that the amount of military merit gained from this surprise attack on Shanghai West was related to his future, and he only brought an infantry brigade and an artillery regiment plus part of the engineering regiment and the baggage regiment, and the manpower was not enough for him to squander.

He did not reprimand the cavalry regiment for its caution.

However, the Chinese seemed to have disappeared.

Not only did they not find a single Chinese soldier within a five-kilometer radius of the landing site, but even the village was empty.

If it weren't for the chickens and ducks in the village still foraging in the fields, people would think that the area outside Songjiang City was originally a dead land.

This is actually Tang Dao's suggestion.

As early as yesterday, he asked the Songjiang County Government to send people to the villages and towns within ten kilometers of Songjiang City to notify everyone, young and old, to leave.

Because this place will become a battlefield, and more than 100,000 Japanese troops will come to attack Songjiang.

The common people naturally don't want to leave their homes, but when they heard that there were 100,000 Japanese, even the dumbest people knew that such a large army needed a vast terrain to deploy. Once the war started, the shells fired from the city would not care whether you were Chinese or Japanese.

In addition, it was said that the Japanese were cruel and committed all kinds of evil on the battlefield in North China, so it would be strange if they didn't leave with their families.

One day and one night was enough for tens of thousands of villagers in the surrounding area to evacuate, and it also avoided the disaster of the Japanese army slaughtering ordinary people to vent their anger.

In the evening, a Fubuki-class light cruiser sailed from the lower reaches of the Huangpu River under the protection of two gunboats, and the 114th Division, which was ready, began to cross the river with its main force.

The range of the 127mm naval gun was as high as 11,000 meters, just covering the Songjiang City ten kilometers away. That also meant that no matter where the Chinese artillery positions were, the six 127mm naval guns could carry out retaliatory artillery fire on them.

After following Tang Dao to do this, the six cavalry companies led by Gong Shaoxun followed Tang Dao's advice and evacuated directly from this area, without even leaving a sentry.

The Japanese army, whose anger was provoked to the extreme, would no longer make the mistake of advancing rashly. There must be infantry and artillery behind a small number of cavalry, and any surprise attack would likely trap themselves.

They still had to keep their strength to operate in the outer areas of the battlefield, just as Lieutenant General Wu hoped, and become a roaming wolf pack, looking for an opportunity to bite the Japanese army besieging the city, not to bite them to death, just to hurt them.

Now, they have hurt them!

After the main force of the 114th Division crossed the Huangpu River, the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 115th Infantry Regiment, as the vanguard, took the lead in advancing to the east of Songjiang City accompanied by four tanks.

Less than ten kilometers away, the 1st Infantry Battalion, which had motorcycles and trucks, took less than half an hour to reach the 1,500-meter area outside Songjiang City.

A group of Japanese lieutenants were lying on the top of a small mound and carefully observing the city surrounded by layers of residential houses in front of them.

Before their convoy arrived in a mighty manner, the cavalry of the 18th Cavalry Regiment had seen sporadic Chinese cavalry fleeing into the city in a hurry, indicating that the Chinese had already known about their arrival.

Standing on the high ground with a telescope and observing with dignity, it is cool and has the right temperament, but if the Chinese see it and bombard it, the consequences will definitely not be very good.

Dongcheng, according to the designation of the Tenth Army Headquarters, is the main battle zone of the 114th Division. The 6th Division that will arrive later will be responsible for Xicheng and Nancheng, and the 18th Division will stay on the south bank of the Huangpu River as the reserve of the entire army.

Sending one and a half divisions to attack a small city is already a great respect for the Chinese.

Not to mention that there is also a tactical arrangement of encircling three and killing one. Once the besieged Chinese escape from the north city, they will die faster. One of the "imperial double Bs" who are waiting for them will encircle and kill them in the wilderness of southeast China.

Because of Suematsu Shigeharu's anger, the 1st Infantry Battalion, which once again served as the vanguard of the siege, knew that the Chinese might not be able to hold out for too long under the siege of their own army, but it did not mean that they would be qualified to taste the fruits of victory if they were not careful.

As the vanguard of the entire division, if they could not fight this battle with all their strength, no more than half of the more than 1,000 people in the entire infantry battalion would be qualified to set foot in this small city.

As the captain of the 1st Infantry Battalion, Major Junichi Watanabe must be responsible for himself and his more than 1,000 men.

So as soon as he arrived outside Songjiang City, he ignored his status as the major captain and brought the deputy battalion commander and several infantry squadron leaders to the forefront of the temporary field fortifications that the soldiers were building based on the terrain to observe the Chinese city defense.

However, because of the layers of residential houses hundreds of meters away, the Japanese officers could not see the construction of the city fortifications in front of them.

In order to reach the corner of the city wall, they had to pass through the dense residential houses that made their scalps numb.

The residential areas were quiet. Even though it was sunset and time for dinner, there was no smoke from cooking. It was like a dead zone.

Apparently, the Chinese had evacuated all the civilians in the villages outside the city not long ago, just like the villages outside the city.

The residential areas in the city were originally their favorite areas. Just like the Chinese cities they had entered with big strides, Chinese civilians could only stand on the roadside with their heads down, waiting for the victor's inspection. Any disrespectful behavior could lead to death.

The pleasure of life and death was really wonderful.

This was conquest.

But this quiet residential area outside the city without a sound actually made Junichi Watanabe feel a little palpitation for no reason.

It was as if it was a sleeping beast that would open its big mouth at any time and swallow everyone who dared to enter this area.

But what could be done if no one was sent in? It was unrealistic to rely on one's own artillery to destroy the entire residential area of ​​more than one square kilometer.

Not to mention that there are not so many shells for him to waste, time does not allow it.

Shigeharu Suematsu, who is advancing here, has issued a military order, ordering them to attack Dongcheng as soon as they arrive.

All the artillery of the artillery regiment approaching the division and the six naval guns of the Fubuki-class destroyer staying on the surface of the Huangpu River will provide fire support for them.

When the heavy artillery brigade that is advancing with the military arrives tomorrow, the Chinese surrounded in the city will be bombed into powder, along with the entire city.

Junichi Watanabe did not take the division commander's still angry telegram too seriously.

He did not dare to disobey the order, so he could only take the lead in launching an attack on the city to detect the Chinese firepower structure for the main firepower of the division, but it did not mean that he had too much expectations for naval guns and heavy artillery brigades.

The small town in Jinshan County is much smaller than the Songjiang City in front of him! What was the result? The two infantry regiments took turns to fight, and they fought for an afternoon.

The small town was almost blown to pieces, but the Chinese fought to the death until the last man.

The Chinese officer who ignited the explosives and died with the wounded and more than a dozen Imperial Army soldiers left an indelible impression on the Japanese major who arrived at the scene in person.

Is this another gold mine?

He didn't know.

He just hoped that it wouldn't be...

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