Volume 1 Chapter 10 Blood Battle in Nanjing Alley War, Tears Begging for Bookmarks, Recommending Votes

  In the narrow traffic ditch, no matter how many devils there were, they couldn't spread out, and the Japanese soldiers who lined up in a straight line fell down one by one like being shot. The power of 7.92mm heavy machine gun bullets can be said to be not small, each bullet can knock down several devils like a string of sugar gourds.

  In the time it took to eat a meal, more than 400 devils who had charged into the first trench were all killed under the bombardment of heavy machine guns and hand grenades. The devils behind them had already rushed to the front of the first trench, staring blankly at the mountains of corpses piled up in the trench, knowing that jumping down again would be a futile death, and wondering who else dared to go in?

  "What's going on here?!" Colonel Hiratani thundered, his face red with rage. His subordinates stood before him, their heads hung low in shame, not daring to utter a word.

  At this moment, a messenger who ran back from the front line reported to Heitaro Kimura in a breathless manner: "Sir, we've been deceived!" After the messenger finished speaking, Heitaro Kimura roared: "Baka! Crafty Chinese! Their conscience is utterly rotten!"

  Hiraya Taisa reported to Shidancho Tani Tsuyoshi that "the Chinese are too cunning and the attack is frustrated". After thinking for a moment, Tani Tsuyoshi wired back: "Hiraya kun, I will immediately request General Matsui to send planes to assist in the battle! Have your reserve troops bring wooden boards on top! We must take down the Chinese defense line outside Guanghua Gate!"

  "Ah-hai!" Colonel Hirakawa responded on the other end of the phone. Tani Tsutomu sent a telegram to Matsui Iwane in Shanghai, requesting air support! At Shanghai Airport, six Kawasaki Ki-48 reconnaissance bombers and six Mitsubishi G4M bombers took off one after another, heading towards the Chinese defense line at Guanghua Gate in Nanjing again. The bombers were what the Japanese called "ghost planes"! Zhang Mingyu, who was familiar with military history, was very clear that the lesson learned from China's defeat in the Anti-Japanese War was that its defenses were not deep enough. Under the circumstances where the Chinese army did not have as much heavy firepower as the Japanese, the defenders suffered heavy losses even before they came into contact with the enemy under the enemy's air raids and artillery fire! The thin defense line collapsed once the Japanese opened up a breakthrough. Moreover, there were no intersecting trenches to connect, so the reinforcements could only retake the positions under the enemy's firepower, resulting in failure to regain lost ground, but instead losing more troops and eventually collapsing the entire front line.

  Now, Zhang Mingyu's troop deployment is light in the front and heavy in the back, trying to reserve as much firepower as possible to block the enemy's crazy attack layer by layer. Those who have rushed to the first trench are staring blankly at the corpses lying horizontally and vertically inside the trench, they don't dare to go down, standing there is not an option either, between the second and third trenches, bullets are occasionally fired from the scattered soldier holes, more seriously, some hidden bunkers shoot out dense machine gun bullets and mortar shells that may suddenly fly over at any time.

  The devils who were in a dilemma could only lie on the ground, using their rifles and bayonets to fire at the second trench.

  The warriors in the second trench, with bullets whizzing past their ears, engaged in a fierce counterattack against the enemy. Although the well-trained devils' marksmanship was significantly better, at a distance of only 40-50 meters, this advantage was offset, not to mention that the warriors had Zhang Haisheng's sharpshooters and mobile artillery behind them!

  Zhang Haisheng pulled the trigger, and a Japanese grenade soldier fell to the ground. He quickly moved his position, crouching down in the trench and running for several steps, leaving his original ambush point. As soon as he ran away, a 75mm shell landed on his previous ambush position and exploded. After moving the ambush position, Zhang Haisheng pulled the bolt again, pushing the next bullet into the barrel, and then poked out the muzzle from another ambush point. At this moment, a lieutenant colonel's rank badge appeared in his sight.

  "Great, caught a big fish!" Zhang Mingyu was overjoyed in his heart, and he gently moved the muzzle.

  A gunshot rang out, and the commander of the 28th Regiment's 3rd Infantry Battalion had his skull blown open, with brain matter and dirty blood splattering onto the snowy ground, staining the pure white snow a murky color.

  Snipers shot and changed positions, flexible strikes against the enemy, those devils who were suppressed by strong light weapon firepower outside the first trench were killed one after another.

  The Japanese army's attack resulted in the loss of over a thousand men, and even a battalion commander was killed. The Japanese army, which had no way to advance or retreat, could only start retreating, staying here would be nothing but being beaten without any cover, it's better to temporarily "shift the battlefield".

  As the sky had gradually darkened, the Japanese army did not launch an attack on South Huamen. At this time, the sound of aircraft rumbled in the sky, and upon hearing the sound of the Japanese planes, Zhang Mingyu hastily ordered: "Everyone retreat into the air raid shelter."

  The enemy plane dropped a large number of bombs on the defensive position, blowing it to smithereens. However, at this time, the soldiers had already retreated to the air raid shelter, and after wasting several tons of steel, the Japanese army did not cause much casualties to the defenders. The enemy plane that finished dropping the bombs flew away towards Shanghai with a swagger.

  The night fell slowly, and due to the winter solstice, a heavy snowfall began, causing the temperature to drop sharply to below 0 degrees Celsius. The Japanese army camp, except for the necessary sentries, retreated into their tents to warm up. On the Chinese defensive position, the soldiers quietly withdrew into the city, leaving behind a small team that set up large areas of landmines and traps before retreating into Nanjing.

  At this time, the main force had already withdrawn from Nanjing and crossed the Yangtze River to relocate. The small number of troops left behind at each gate also blasted the city gates shut, leaving only Zhang Mingyu's independent division and a portion of other troops totaling over 5,000 people inside the city. Meanwhile, the Japanese army's Kuki Detachment had surrounded the East Gate, completely encircling Nanjing. During the withdrawal of the main force, both Gui Yongqing and Chiang Kai-shek sent telegrams ordering Zhang Mingyu to retreat with the main force, but Zhang replied, "I will share life and death with Nanjing, I will not retreat even in death!"

  At this time, the civilian houses in various parts of Nanjing were all converted into strongholds and fortifications. Originally, during the initial period of the Battle of Nanjing, fortifications had already been built inside the city to prepare for a street fight against the devils. Now they were being used by Zhang Mingyu and others. Meanwhile, there was also an armored regiment left in Nanjing with over ten tanks and hundreds of armored soldiers.

  Wuhan, the leader's headquarters.

  "What did he say about not wanting to retreat? Doesn't he know that his future prospects are boundless? Why does he insist on defending Nanjing, when tens of thousands of troops have retreated and only he refuses to withdraw? I really don't understand what's going through his mind!" Chiang Kai-shek muttered to himself as he read the telegram from Nanjing. Perhaps only Madame Chiang beside him could understand what was in his heart. The old man held Zhang Mingyu in high esteem, regarding him as a rare talent who dared to fight and sacrifice, with exceptional strategic and tactical skills, and being a graduate of Huangpu Military Academy and a member of the Fenghua clique, there was no doubt that he would become one of the most brilliant generals in the future.

  Madam Chiang also felt a deep sense of regret in her heart. No one knew General Zhang better than she did, and he was a man of great talent, especially since he was from Huangpu and Fuzhou. If General Zhang really died in Nanjing, it would be a lifelong regret for General Chiang. Since marrying General Chiang, Madam Chiang had never seen him care so much about any general. However, Madam Chiang understood clearly that General Chiang only felt regretful. As the leader of the party and state, he would not delay national affairs because of the personal life or death of a certain general. Compared to the fate and safety of the entire party and state, General Zhang's life or death was insignificant.

  When the main force began to retreat, Zhang Mingyu started arranging small troops, blasting some streets, making the Nanjing map in the hands of the little ghosts a waste paper. Some solid reinforced concrete buildings were transformed, windows were blocked, leaving only one shooting hole, becoming a fort, and those not very strong brick earth structure houses, some were blown up, some were transformed into temporary firepower points. Many ordinary people had already been transferred to escape, and the house became an uninhabited house. Many of the remaining houses were transformed by Zhang Mingyu, some houses were dismantled, stones and bricks were used to build fortifications.

  Many houses and buildings were directly connected by small holes, so the garrison did not have to go through the enemy's firepower-locked streets, and could move and fight in the buildings, flexibly eliminating the enemy. Some Nanjing citizens who had not left also silently helped Zhang Mingyu and others transform their own homes. Since the devils were coming, their homes would soon fall into the hands of robbers, so it was better to let the soldiers turn them into strongholds to attack the devils. Some wide streets were bombed and ruins fell on the ground. Zhang Mingyu ordered people to pile up the ruins, turning them into defensive fortifications.

  Zhang Mingyu also ordered that all landmines be laid out in each district, and the landmines were moved from the military arsenal in Nanjing. Due to the urgency of the situation, most of the troops withdrew without taking away the piled-up weapons and ammunition in the arsenal, so Zhang Mingyu had a sufficient supply of ammunition.

  Everyone's support is appreciated!