"Battalion Commander, the east gate has been broken through by the devils. A company commander has died, and the soldiers are relying on the buildings in the city to resist desperately!”Not long after they retreated to cover, a signalman hurriedly ran over from the city and found Yao Ziqing to report the situation.
"What?" Yao Ziqing was shocked when she heard that. She immediately said,"Second Company Commander, bring your men and wait here! Inform the guard platoon to follow me. Beat the Japanese out and take back the east gate!”
"Yes, sir! Don't worry, Battalion Commander!" The second company commander agreed.
Yao Ziqing and the signalman immediately braved the Japanese's artillery fire and came out of cover to the battalion headquarters.
At this time, the guard platoon was left behind as a reserve team.
When they saw Yao Ziqing return, the 40-odd soldiers in the security platoon all stood up and saluted."Battalion Leader, isn't it our turn?”
Yao Ziqing nodded with a solemn expression."That's right, the East Gate has failed. Now, I'm going to take you guys up to get it back. Do you dare to fight to the death with me and the Japanese?!”
"I'm willing to fight to the death with the camp leader!"
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
Under the lead of the platoon leader, the entire platoon roared in response.
Yao Ziqing picked up a mid-range rifle and installed the bayonet. He said sternly,"Very good. Those who are not afraid of death, follow me!”
With that, he took the lead and ran towards the east gate.
More than 40 guards rushed forward with guns in their hands.
At this time, more than 200 Japanese had already invaded the city from the east gate. The remaining soldiers who suffered heavy casualties were relying on the civilian buildings near the gap in the city wall that had been blown up by the Japanese army.
Seeing more and more Japanese troops pouring into the city, the situation was extremely critical.
At this time, Yao Ziqing led more than forty fresh troops and arrived in time.
More than half of the soldiers in his platoon were equipped with MP18 submachine guns, commonly known as flower traps. This type of gun had strong melee firepower and was a weapon for street fighting.
More than 20 guards equipped with flower traps followed behind Yao Ziqing. They rushed along the street and fired at the attacking Japanese soldiers.
It immediately caused a great deal of damage to the Japanese.
"Soldiers, this battle concerns the honor of the country and the dignity of the nation. Either the enemy dies or we die. Kill these Japanese devils! Charge!" Yao Ziqing shouted as he fired.
The remaining soldiers who were hiding behind the ruins of the buildings were greatly boosted by the reinforcements. They jumped out and joined the counter-charge against the Japanese army.
The Japanese army was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties. However, they did not receive the order to retreat and did not dare to retreat.
Instead, he charged at Yao Ziqing's troops with his gun in hand while screaming.
More than 20 flower traps kept firing, and the dense firepower almost covered the entire street. All the Japanese who rushed in front were shot and fell to the ground until the bullets in the magazines of the soldiers were all used up. The Japanese had already lost more than half of their casualties.
At this moment, both sides did not have time to reload their magazines or bullets. They roared and engaged in close combat.
"Brothers! Mount the bayonet! Let's fight it out with them!" Yao Ziqing roared, and with a bayonet in his hand, he rushed into the Japanese army.
Encountering a Japanese infantry, Yao Ziqing first used a rifle to deflect the bayonet, then kicked it to the ground.
Then, he stabbed forward. Puchi! The sharp bayonet pierced through the soldier's heart.
The two Japanese soldiers on both sides wanted to take advantage of the situation and attack Yao Ziqing.
Yao Ziqing's platoon leader and another soldier had already rushed forward with their guns.
The two sides quickly engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand battle.
After Yao Ziqing and the soldiers fought bravely, after paying the price of nearly 50 casualties, they finally pushed out the Japanese who had invaded the city. Of course, the guards led by Yao Ziqing also relied on their weapons to defeat the Japanese.
The 200 or so Japanese soldiers that had entered the city were almost completely wiped out. In the end, there were only a dozen or so people left. They retreated out of the city in a panic. Fortunately, they received reinforcements from other reinforcements, so they were not caught up and killed by Yao Ziqing's troops.
Seeing that the Japanese reinforcements had arrived, Yao Ziqing immediately ordered them to stop chasing and collect the weapons and ammunition they had seized.
The two sides began to exchange intense gunfire near the city gate.
Yao Ziqing and the soldiers relied on the ruins of the buildings in the city to resist desperately, causing the Japanese army to be unable to move forward. As the soldiers of the guard platoon caught their breath, they reloaded their magazines and opened up a path with the dense firepower of their submachine guns. In addition, a company of soldiers threw grenades to support them.
They then launched a counter-charge against the Japanese army. With the intensive firepower and the fearless soldiers, they once again forced the Japanese army back and regained control of the East Gate.
The Japanese army was not willing to fail and immediately mobilized artillery to attack the east gate. Yao Ziqing immediately turned to defense.
However, at this moment, he had lost more than half of his guard platoon, and with the remnants of a company, the number of defenders at the east gate was less than a hundred.
Yao Ziqing understood that without reinforcements, it would be difficult for his troops to defend the four gates.
In view of this, he gritted his teeth and ordered the entire camp to give up on the four gates, shrink the defense range, and let the devils enter the city to fight in the streets.
Fortunately, the 3rd Battalion did not run out of ammunition due to the spoils they had obtained from the Japanese.
The moment Yao Ziqing retreated, the Japanese immediately surrounded him again.
"Battalion Commander, the devils are attacking!" The platoon leader reported to Yao Ziqing unwillingly.
Yao Ziqing was silent. He was reluctant to give up on the city defense, but he had no choice because he did not have enough soldiers.
"Can reinforcements still come?" A platoon leader of the Second Company said in despair.
His words resonated with the rest of the soldiers in the camp. For a moment, their morale dropped.
"Regardless of whether the reinforcements arrive or not, we will fight the Japanese to the end today. Not for anything else, but for those comrades who died beside us! Don't you think so?" Yao Ziqing immediately encouraged them.
The soldiers recalled their comrades who had sacrificed their lives, and their blood and anger were instantly aroused by hatred. So what if there were no reinforcements? Anyway, the battalion commander isn't afraid of death, so what is there to be afraid of?
He would follow the battalion commander and fight the Japanese to the bitter end. He would kill as many as he could, and he would earn as much as he could by killing two.
Immediately, Yao Ziqing commanded the troops to rely on the buildings in the city to reorganize the defense.
At the same time, Xu Guoren also led his Dragon Shadow Brigade to the vicinity of Lion Forest, which was originally a fortress along the river. It was originally guarded by the other troops of the 98th Division, but under the intensive firepower of the Japanese naval guns, the defenders were almost wiped out and were occupied by the Japanese.
The 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division was responsible for attacking Lion Forest. This 5th Brigade had jurisdiction over the 6th and 68th Infantry Regiments. After occupying Lion Forest, the 5th Brigade's brigade commander, Major General Katayama Riichiro, moved his exploration headquarters to Lion Forest Fortress.
After that, they received orders from the regiment headquarters to send the 6th division to chase after the defeated 98th division along the highway.
The 68th Infantry Regiment was sent to attack Baoshan County, which was still in the hands of the Chinese army. As they were unable to take it down, Major General Katayama Riichiro sent an additional infantry brigade that the original 68th Infantry Regiment had left for him.
This way, only one infantry squadron was left to guard the 5th Brigade.
Xu Guoren and Niu Dagan led the Dragon Shadow Brigade through the gap between the 6th Infantry Regiment and the 98th Division's battle area, specifically picking the wasteland full of trees and weeds to lurk.
Coincidentally, he found himself near Lion Grove Fortress.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]