Chapter 24: Guarding Against the Enemy's Defeat

  After a round of artillery bombardment, the Japanese 10th Brigade suffered heavy casualties and was unable to attack. The regimental commander who was directing the battle almost knelt down and cried to Ogawa to replace him.

  The Ogawa corps saw that the 10th division had basically cleared away the barbed wire and filled in the trenches, so they withdrew it and replaced it with the 5th brigade of the 3rd division. And what was the 3rd division? It was the unit that later became notorious for participating in the Nanjing Massacre.

  The 5th Division has recently entered the country, and morale is high. The division commander, Major General Oshima Tadashi, is a samurai from Satsuma, Japan, with a straightforward and strong personality. To put it bluntly, he's not very intelligent but physically capable, similar to Wu Dashan. He used to be an imperial guard during the Meiji era and was rumored to have had an improper relationship with the emperor due to his tall and intimidating stature.

  Kogawa's intention is already clear, that is to fight with Yeh Zonggui to the end, no longer playing any tricks on you, directly piling people to death.

  ōsako Naotoshi was about to divide the 5th Division into two routes to attack Ye Ziku, one route attacking the bridgehead on the south bank of the Taedong River, and the other route bypassing the bridgehead, attempting to cross the pontoon bridge and directly attack the Daeung Gate of Pyongyang Castle.

  This time the Japanese army came with a strong momentum, Major General Da Pressing Shang Min personally supervised the battle from behind, and the two regimental commanders personally led the charge. The situation immediately entered a state of white heat.

  The eight forts at the Jiangnan Bridgehead were guarded by Wu Xiu-jie's Tiger Battalion, First Regiment. Wu Xiu-jie saw the Japanese troops charging forward like locusts and was not afraid at all. He ordered his soldiers not to fire randomly and wait until the enemy approached before shooting.

  When the Japanese army approached the lowlands near the fortress, the Mauser thirteen-shot rifle of the Tiger Battalion suddenly fired in unison, and the bullets flew like a sudden rain. The commander of the Japanese detachment was commanding when a bullet suddenly came and hit his forehead, and he died instantly. As the Japanese army's situation seemed hopeless, the commander of the joint Japanese forces personally drew his command sword, shouted "Kill!" and led the charge himself. At this time, the Japanese mountain artillery continuously fired shrapnel shells, constantly hitting the Tiger Battalion's position.

  Ye Zhiqi stood on the Zhuque Gate and saw that the situation in Jiangnan was precarious, being attacked was only a matter of time. The floating bridge also had Japanese troops attacking, unable to provide timely support. He ordered artillery fire support while dispatching ships to rescue and retreat. At this point, the Tiger Battalion on the south bank had already given the enemy enough lessons, continuing to defend would lead to complete destruction. As Ye Zhiqi's trump card unit, he could not let that happen.

  The Japanese troops attacking the floating bridge suffered their greatest loss since the start of the war. Ye Zhikui did not blow up this floating bridge, but waited for this moment. On this small floating bridge, the Japanese army could not deploy easily and had to attack in small teams one by one. Ye Zhikui ordered his men to set up three layers of arc-shaped defensive circles composed of foxholes on the north bank of the floating bridge. Foxholes are ring-shaped defensive fortifications that provide excellent protection for personnel against enemy light weapons fire, shell fragments, and other hazards. These foxholes were connected to the rear through communication trenches, so if someone in a foxhole was injured or killed, soldiers from the rear could immediately go to rescue and replace them.

  The commander watched as his troops fell one by one on the bridge, feeling anxious and helpless. In a fit of rage, he saw that there were suddenly boats drifting ashore from the river, and upon closer inspection, discovered that it was the Qing army from the south bank retreating. The commander immediately suspended the floating bridge offensive and moved sideways towards the Tiger Battalion.

  Wu Xiujie soon discovered that the enemy army was approaching from both sides, and he understood the enemy's intention. He knew the situation was critical and someone had to stay behind to hold off the enemy, otherwise they would be surrounded and annihilated. So he ordered the other troops to retreat first without hesitation, while he led three teams of soldiers to defend the fortress to the death, buying time for the retreating army.

  The Japanese army, relying on their numerical superiority, launched a fierce attack on the Nan'an Fortress. Wu Xiu-jie led the remaining troops of the Hu Ziying Regiment in a desperate counterattack, and both sides engaged in intense hand-to-hand combat. In the end, they were vastly outnumbered and killed to the last man, with Wu Xiu-jie shouting "Kill the Japanese bandits!" as he died. When Ye Zhi-kui received this news, he fell silent for a long time, unable to speak. Wu Xiu-jie was undoubtedly his most trusted general, which is why he had entrusted him with command of his elite troops. It's a pity that he lost his life in this battle.

  The enraged Ye Zhiqiu was terrifying, ordering the artillery to bombard Jiangnan Bridgehead with dozens of shells. The 300 Japanese soldiers who had just occupied it didn't even have time to celebrate before they were blown to smithereens.

  Ye Zhiqi's Hu Yongjun can be said to be the most powerful artillery unit among several Qing troops, not only with the largest number of cannons, but also with the strongest personnel quality. Previously, Ye Zhiqi was a student studying in Germany as an artilleryman, so he had always attached great importance to artillery. Now, Ye Zhiqi is teaching various artillery techniques learned from Germany and later generations to his artillery team. When other troops still used artillery as auxiliary units, Ye Zhiqi had already conducted coordinated infantry-artillery operations.

  The Japanese army attacking the floating bridge was blocked, and the bodies of the Japanese soldiers were scattered all over the bridge. The other end of the bridge had been bombarded by Japanese artillery fire, and it was pockmarked with craters. Yet every time the Japanese launched another attack, gunfire would erupt again. Unaware of the situation, some Japanese troops thought that Ye Zhiwei's unit was a force that could not be killed by bombing, when in fact, several batches of soldiers had already been replaced in the scattered trenches.

  At around 2:30 pm, Ogawa saw that the ammunition had been used up and the troops had not eaten all day, so he ordered a halt to the attack and withdrew from the battlefield. Ye Zikui saw that the enemy was retreating in an orderly manner, and since his own forces were outnumbered, he did not order a pursuit.

  In the morning, more than 3,000 Japanese troops attacking Ye Zhiqi's unit were killed, while Ye Zhiqi's losses were much smaller. Except for the Tiger Battalion defending the south bank, which suffered heavy casualties with over 300 wounded or killed, other casualties were either injured by shrapnel or accidentally hit by stray bullets, and few were shot in the front. However, Ye Zhiqi had consumed too many artillery shells and had to beg Ye Zhichao for help, transferring artillery fire from other battalions.

  The county of San led the troops to attack in the direction of Pyongjang West Ordinary River, while the old general Zuo Baogui and the fierce general Ma Yukun were defending. Both were veterans of many battles, and their defense was solid and unyielding, giving the enemy no chance to gain an advantage. Until noon, both sides suffered losses, but the battle didn't reach its climax until the afternoon. The Japanese commander, San County, saw that his troops were being repelled, so he ordered a desperate charge to take down the West Gate at all costs. The Japanese soldiers became frenzied and launched a suicidal attack, briefly taking over the outer fortifications of the city's west side and threatening the inner city of Pyongjang. Ye Zhichao hastily dispatched Lü Benyuan to provide support, which finally stabilized the front line outside the city. The two routes of Japanese troops simultaneously saw that they couldn't break through for the time being, so they regrouped to await the next day's attack.

  That night, Ye Zhi-chao convened a meeting with his generals to discuss defensive matters. Ye Zhikui was sitting on the side, depressed and unhappy because one of his major generals had died in battle that day, letting others discuss while at this time there were timid people who suggested withdrawing from Pyongyang. Zuo Baogui was very angry and scolded: "If you are afraid of death, you can leave. This city is my tomb." He firmly expressed his determination to live or die with Pyongyang.

  Yeh Chi-kwei, however, could not bear it and suddenly flew into a rage. He stood up and said: "Today's battle in Pingdu is mainly fought by me, Yeh Chi-kwei, and General Tso. The other routes are just feints by the Japanese army. I haven't even mentioned retreat yet, what guts do you have to mention retreat?"

  Ye Zhi Kui slapped his left-handed revolver onto the table and said, "Whoever wants to retreat must first ask the gun in my hand." Everyone fell silent, and the person who proposed retreating also lowered their head in shame.

  Ye Zhi-chao, who was sitting at the top, saw Ye Zhikui speaking excitedly and his words were too sharp, fearing that he would offend others, so he laughed and said: "Alright, Yun, this is just a proposal, everyone can speak freely, you also say your opinion."

  Ye Zhiyuan fell silent for a moment, and suddenly a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He said astonishingly: "In my opinion, today the Japanese army's attack was repelled, they suffered heavy losses, and their ammunition is almost exhausted, which is why they were unable to launch a strong attack on our Hu Yong Army this afternoon. As for us, except for Left Commander who suffered relatively heavy losses, the other units' losses are negligible. Therefore, tonight we not only cannot retreat but should also launch a surprise attack under cover of night and defeat the Japanese in one fell swoop. A great man achieves success through one bold move, as for whether it will be successful or not, let's not worry about that for now."

  Ye Zhiwei's words make sense, firstly because his Iron Blood Thirteen Hawks have developed rapidly, although the core personnel are still relatively few, but the peripheral members have already reached tens of thousands, spreading at a terrifying speed like a pyramid scheme in North Korea. From 90-year-old North Korean old ladies to toddlers wearing split pants, as long as they can transmit real information about the Japanese army, they will be rewarded with anything from a small ice sugar gourd to several taels of silver. Moreover, Ye Zhiwei has already secretly contacted Li Xiangying and others in Han City, so in his eyes, the Japanese army is no different from a stripped prostitute, completely transparent. Knowing that the Japanese army's follow-up forces are weak and lacking ammunition and food, Ye Zhiwei can now attack at will, of course, he won't be foolish enough to fight on the front lines himself, but will let other troops take some losses.

  According to historical records of later generations, the Japanese army was indeed in such a situation. If it were not for the Japanese army capturing Pyongyang in one day and seizing countless Qing army guns and ammunition, they would have retreated back to Hancheng due to logistical problems with ammunition.