Gu Shoufu led the Japanese army's 6th division to become even more rampant after the successful landing of the Jinshan Guard. The main force of more than 10,000 people marched north. The Japanese walked while singing their military song proudly.
Gu Shoufu and Chief of Staff Xiaye Yihuo each rode a horse in the middle of the team. Shoufu Tani smiled proudly and said to Ichihuo Xiano,""The Chinese are simply too weak. Our Imperial Army is invincible. We can reach Shanghai Qingpu District in two days. " We'll stab the enemy from behind and support the front line. At the same time, we'll cut off the retreat of the Chinese army and destroy the Chinese army that retreated from Shanghai. We'll die, haha…" Xiaye Yihuo also laughed out loud.
The commander of the 62nd Division, Tao Liu, ordered the commander of the 367th Regiment, Zhang Kongyi, at the command post,""Regiment Commander Zhang, the enemy has landed at the Golden Mountain Guards. You will lead your regiment to block the enemy from approaching Shanghai. You will destroy the enemy's plan to cut off the retreat route of the main battlefield troops in Shanghai from the back and cover the other troops to successfully evacuate from Shanghai.”Commander Zhang stood at attention and said,"Yes, I promise to complete the mission!"”
Commander Zhang led his soldiers to march for a few hours. At noon on November 5th, 1937, they finally arrived at Zhangyan Town, north of Jinshanwei. Before they could stand firm, they found that the Japanese vanguard was not far from the town. Regiment Commander Zhang calmly ordered the troops to find cover on the spot and immediately block them.
Regiment Deputy Han Zhang said to Regiment Commander Zhang worriedly,""We don't have any fortifications, so it's very difficult to stop the fierce attack of the Japanese army. We have to think of a foolproof plan.”Commander Zhang comforted him," Time is of the essence. We won't have enough time to build fortifications, but we can at least hold on for a few hours. How about this, you take half of your brothers to the few towns behind, like Hougang Town, Tinglin Town, and Pine Hidden Town, to build fortifications. I'll lead half of my brothers here to stop them and buy you some time.”
Deputy Han retorted," This place is too dangerous. I'll stay here to stop them. You lead the brothers to build fortifications."”"This is an order, carry it out!" Commander Zhang said firmly.”"Yes!" Deputy Commander Han could only reply.
Although Zhangyan Town was more than ten kilometers away from the sea, it was still a seaside town. The sea breeze was strong and sometimes it was affected by typhoons. In order to prevent the invasion of the sea breeze and typhoons, the residents of the town had planted many windbreaks in the south of the town a few years ago. Regiment Commander Zhang ordered the 1st Battalion to stop the enemy in the windbreak while the 2nd Battalion laid an ambush in the secret area of the town.
Ever since the battle at Zhelin Town, Ouyang Feilong had led Battalion Commander Wang Zilong's remaining dozen brothers to search for the main force of the 62nd Division. After walking for about an hour, they arrived at the windbreak forest south of Zhangyan Town. They were hurrying along when they suddenly heard a shout,""Stop! Raise your hands!" They were surrounded by a group of soldiers. Fei Long and his ten brothers faced the people surrounding them with their guns on their backs.
"Who are you? Which part?" The leader questioned.
" We're from the 1st Battalion of the 372nd Regiment of the 62nd Division. Our Battalion Commander Wang Zilong has died. We're here to find the main force…" One of the soldiers cried.
"So you're one of us. I'm Xie Kangquan, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 367th Regiment of the 62nd Division. The enemy is coming soon. Retreat to the town and meet up with Commander Zhang.”Battalion Commander Xie saw that their clothes and expressions didn't look like bad people, so he ordered.
"My name is Ouyang Feilong. I don't agree. We want to stay and fight the Japanese with you!”Fei Long retorted.
"Since you want to stay, then stay. However, you have to listen to my commands.”Battalion Commander Xie said firmly.
"No problem!" Fei Long and his brothers said in unison. Before he could finish his sentence, a row of bullets flew over their heads and pierced through a few leaves. The leaves drifted down leisurely, and a few birds in the forest were startled and flew into the distance.
"Scatter and hide, prepare for battle!" Battalion Commander Xie ordered loudly as he walked.
The officers and soldiers of the 62nd Division used tree trunks as bunkers to fight back against the Japanese. Ouyang Feilong also found a big tree and hid behind it. From time to time, he would poke his head out and aim at the Japanese in front. With a few gunshots, a few Japanese were shot in the head, and their brains splattered a few meters away. A few Japanese soldiers also discovered the big tree where the Flying Dragon was hiding. They started shooting at the Flying Dragon. The Flying Dragon quickly hid behind the tree trunk. The Japanese soldiers 'bullets hit the tree trunk and left rows of irregular holes on the tree trunk, like a hornet's nest.
Battalion Commander Xie was also hiding behind a big tree, forming a horn formation with the Flying Dragon, blocking the enemy. His marksmanship wasn't bad either. He specialized in shooting the left chest of the Japanese and killed them in one shot. Several Japanese died under his gun.
Battalion Commander Xie's soldiers were also very brave, all of them were not afraid of death, and all of them fought back with all their strength, making it difficult for the Japanese army to advance half a step. However, a few soldiers did not dodge in time. As soon as they emerged from behind the tree, they were hit in the head by the Japanese army and fell.
The two sides fought fiercely for more than an hour. At this time, the Japanese army transferred mortars and bombarded our forest. Trees were blasted to the ground, and leaves and branches flew everywhere, as if a typhoon had swept through them. The brothers of the 62nd Division lost dozens of them.
After the bombardment, the Japanese infantry continued to advance. Due to the heavy casualties, Battalion Commander Xie ordered his brothers to retreat while fighting. Half an hour later, Battalion Commander Xie led his troops back to Zhangyan Town and met up with Regiment Commander Zhang.
Regiment Commander Zhang Kongyi ordered Battalion Commander Xie, who had retreated,""Battalion Commander Xie, lead your battalion to find an advantageous position in the town and prepare to engage the Japanese in a street battle.”
Battalion Commander Xie stood at attention and said firmly,"Yes!"”Then he turned to the soldiers and said,"Follow me!”
Ever since the invasion of the Jinshan Guards, the residents of Zhangyan Town had known about the brutality of the Japanese. Most of them had already evacuated, and only a small number of civilians remained in the town. Commander Zhang ordered the soldiers not to disturb the civilians and told them to hide at home as much as possible.
Gu Shoufu led his devil troops, the main force of the Japanese Sixth Division, through the windbreak forest and arrived in front of Zhangyan Town. Gu Shoufu rode on his warhorse and used his binoculars to observe the situation in the town. He found that all the people in the town had closed their doors and there was no one on the streets. It was quiet, and the town was like an empty city.
Gu Shoufu smiled sinisterly." The Chinese people were scared out of their wits. They abandoned the city and fled, leaving an empty city behind." We'll camp in town tonight and have a good sleep!”The Chief of Staff, Ichihuo Xiano, said worriedly,""Could it be the enemy's empty city tactic?”
"What is the Empty Fortress Stratagem?" Gu Shoufu asked in confusion.
"This is the story of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. At that time, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, had no soldiers in the city and had no time to escape. He had set up an empty city to scare away Sima Yi's hundreds of thousands of troops.”Chief of Staff Xiaye Yihuo explained calmly as if he knew everything.
"I'm not Sima Yi. I won't be as timid as him. I order the artillery to prepare to fire!" Gu Shoufu said arrogantly.
"Wait a minute, let me take a look again." As he spoke, he used his binoculars to observe the situation in the town. "There's an ambush in the town! I saw the shadow of a soldier!"”
"Yuxi! Don't blame me for being rude!" Gu Shoufu smiled proudly.
The Japanese artillery set up a row of mortars, and with a command, the shells flew through the air like huge corns and landed in Zhangyan Town. Suddenly, the flames soared into the sky, and pieces of shrapnel flew everywhere like corn seeds. The shells destroyed a large number of houses. There were many casualties among the residents and our soldiers, but the surviving soldiers were prepared to avenge their fallen comrades and civilians. They prepared a brutal street battle.
Our soldiers hid in a hidden and advantageous position, waiting for an opportunity to destroy the Japanese. Battalion Commander Xie ordered Company Commander Ouyang Ding,"Take a few soldiers and set up some mines in the empty rooms and at the door. Hurry!"”"Yes!" Ouyang Ding said loudly. Then, he went to set up mines.
Commander Zhang Kongyi and Vice Commander Han Zhang were hiding behind a broken wall, discussing their plans in low voices. " The enemy is coming at us menacingly," Deputy Commander Han said worriedly." They have the help of the cannons. If this drags on, we will definitely suffer!" It's better to retreat now. If the enemy uses artillery again, our casualties will be even greater!”Commander Zhang sighed and said firmly,"What you said makes sense, but the enemy will probably attack with infantry first. If it doesn't work, they will use artillery.”
Ouyang Feilong and a few brothers were hiding behind a broken wall opposite Commander Zhang. There was a big street in the middle. If the Japanese army passed through, they would definitely die because the broken walls on both sides were as tall as a person. The walls were penetrated by artillery shells. There were many small holes in the wall, and the gun barrel could be inserted. People could use the other small holes to observe the situation outside.
The few Japanese walked slowly towards the town with their heads stuck out. When they reached the wall, Commander Zhang, Ouyang Feilong, and the other brothers opened fire at the same time from both sides. These Japanese had already died before they could see the enemy. The Japanese soldiers behind them saw an ambush behind the wall and started shooting at it. However, this kind of aimless shooting did not pose any threat to our soldiers.
Our soldiers who were lying in ambush on other streets also fired at the approaching Japanese soldiers. The Japanese soldiers suffered heavy casualties, but they were not willing to lose. They organized a charge and wanted to rush through the ambush circle as quickly as possible, but they did not succeed. They were shot and killed by our machine gunners.
A small portion of the Japanese's vanguard was almost completely wiped out. The remaining few quickly retreated and reported the situation to Gu Shoufu. Gu Shoufu was so angry that his nose was crooked. He kept cursing, Baka, Baka…" He then ordered,""Artillery, get ready. I want to raze Zhangyan Town to the ground!”
The soldiers of the 367th Regiment of the 62nd Division jumped out from their hiding spots. Everyone cheered and Ouyang Ding said happily,""That's great! We no longer have to be afraid of the Japanese!”Battalion Commander Xie Kangquan was also full of smiles as he teased him,"Unfortunately, you didn't use your mines!”Ouyang Ding knew Battalion Commander Xie was joking with him. He smiled knowingly and said,""It doesn't matter, as long as we defeat the Japanese!”Everyone was talking and laughing, but Regiment Commander Zhang couldn't be happy. He pondered for a moment, then stood on a high ground and said loudly to everyone,"Calm down, the Japanese won't let this go. If I'm not wrong, their mortars are aiming at this place. We're not afraid of it, but to reduce unnecessary casualties, we have to evacuate this place immediately.”
Regiment Commander Zhang led his men out of Zhangyan Town in an orderly manner. As soon as they left, the sound of cannons rang out from behind. They turned around and saw that Zhangyan Town had turned into a sea of fire...
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