Phi-Fic Chapter 1096 Running Out of Shells
Chapter 1096 Running Out of Shells
"Kill the chicken for me..."
The newly replenished unit of the Japanese 3rd Division finally managed to penetrate into a county town in the central and eastern part of Pujiang.
On the outskirts of the county town, the Japanese suffered over 7,000 casualties. However, with the support of the 72nd Army's artillery, the three divisions of the Central Army lost more than half their strength, preventing the Japanese from advancing an inch. Now that the Central Army units have retreated, the defending force consists of over 4,000 local warlords. When the Japanese launched their attack, they suffered one-third casualties before retreating.
It's not that these brothers lacked the courage to fight to the death, but rather that Li Shaoyi had given them the order to retreat. Chief of Staff Zhang was right; the war of resistance against Japan is still a long one for us, and there's no need to stubbornly continue now. Therefore, we should preserve some of our brothers for future battles.
Although the Japanese had stormed into the county town, due to the prolonged war, the local population had already fled, and most of the houses had been bombed into ruins. Even if the Japanese wanted to search inside, they would have to check if the walls could hold up, otherwise they could collapse at any moment and become their graves.
In the morning, a small Japanese squad stormed into the county government's warehouse, hoping to find something of value. However, the commotion was so great that the west wall of the warehouse collapsed, killing four Japanese soldiers instantly and seriously injuring six others.
Looking at their cheering soldiers, some Japanese officers felt a bitter taste in their mouths. The soldiers knew less about the situation, but the officers were very clear about it. The price they had paid to occupy these places was enormous; the bodies of their soldiers could practically fill the entire area. That was the price they had paid.
Of course, no matter what, even though it was a Pyrrhic victory, we still managed to capture this place, so it's still acceptable for the soldiers to cheer.
Their joy lasted only ten minutes before large-caliber shells began to fall again. As per Li Shaoyi's instructions, all units were to fire all their shells before retreating. We had gone to great lengths to transport them, and there was no way we could take them back.
The shelling began, lasting one hour and five minutes. Over four thousand Japanese soldiers cowered fearfully at the epicenter of the bombardment. They couldn't believe the 72nd Army still possessed such formidable offensive capabilities. Hadn't the higher-ups ordered the elite troops to retreat? Where were these shells coming from?
On the other hand, the soldiers at the various artillery positions of the 72nd Army had lost their smiles. They had worked hard for an unknown amount of time to maintain the current situation on the Pujiang battlefield, but because of an order from the Nanjing Military and Political Department, the brothers had to start retreating. Don't we need to protect our achievements in battle?
Although telegrams were sent to the Ministry of Military Affairs in rapid succession, the Ministry seemed to ignore them, offering no response other than strictly ordering all units to withdraw on time. As for the various units of the 72nd Army, the Ministry of Military Affairs gave no instructions whatsoever.
Li Shaoyi understood what the higher-ups meant: whether it was the Central Army or the armies of various local warlords, they were all retreating in an orderly manner. The 72nd Army was to take on the task of covering them, and there was no retreat order. To put it bluntly, it meant that his brothers' army would die in the Huangpu River.
Li Shaoyi naturally wouldn't let his brothers foolishly throw their lives away here. He had seen through the Ministry of Military Affairs' little scheme from the beginning: if they let them fight the Japanese to the death, then after the Japanese occupied Huangpu, they might not have much strength left to continue their advance to Nanjing. This would also allow them to calmly set up Nanjing's defenses.
It must be said that our resistance during this period was quite effective, prolonging the fighting and preventing many people in the rear from panicking. Thousands of factories in the Jiangnan region were also able to retreat intact to the rear. The Nationalist government has now moved to Hankou, but the city defenses around Nanjing have also been reinforced by troops, making them much stronger than before.
Whenever these messages arrived, Li Shaoyi would think of delaying the retreat a little longer to buy more time for the troops in the rear. The division commanders of the Central Army were very grateful for Li Shaoyi's actions. Although their troops were in the process of retreating, they also ordered their men to speed up and not waste the time that Commander Li had bought for them.
As for the thousand-year-old pain in Jinling City, Li Shaoyi has already instructed Li Sibei and the others to make preparations. If things were to return to the way they were before, they would gather a group of boats to help the people cross the river and minimize the losses to the entire city.
Of course, there was another thing that made Li Shaoyi very happy. Whether it was the Third Division or the Sixth Division, most of their personnel had been replaced. The original veterans had been killed so many that they could no longer be gathered together. All of these people were new recruits from Japan. As for whether they would still operate in the same way as before, Li Shaoyi could not guarantee that.
The commander of the expeditionary force, Admiral Matsui, has also come ashore from the warship in the past few days. This is probably the happiest thing for him. Since the start of the war, for his safety, the entire headquarters had been moved to a naval cruiser, which was a very embarrassing thing, and various departments of the navy often talked about it.
Aren't you all incredibly brave? From commanders to ordinary soldiers, everyone fights on the battlefield, so why is the Huangpu River battlefield an exception? Your commanders and the entire headquarters are far from the Huangpu River battlefield, commanding the battle from a warship more than 100 nautical miles away. This can be considered a pioneering move in army-led combat.
At the time, everyone in the headquarters, from the commander to the staff officers, felt ashamed upon hearing this, but they couldn't change the situation. If they went to land, the planes of the 72nd Army would be like cats smelling blood, immediately swooping down from the sky. No matter how many underground fortifications you built, they would have plenty of 500-kilogram bombs...
After suffering several major losses, General Matsui made this decision. He knew that this decision would draw criticism from himself and the entire Japanese army, but at this stage, it was necessary to do so. If all the personnel in these headquarters were killed, the current battle situation in Pujiang would become even more difficult.
Now they were finally free from the criticism. Although the atmosphere was tense, General Matsui still felt that this land was very beautiful. The losses of the imperial warriors in order to bring their people to this land were too tragic. To General Matsui's left, there was a vast expanse of white shrouds that stretched as far as the eye could see...