ATPnovel Chapter 235 The Executioners of the Nanjing Massacre
Chapter 235 The Executioners of the Nanjing Massacre
The soldiers of the 1st Motorized Infantry Detachment were holding their ground in the trenches dug overnight by the engineering battalion using engineering vehicles, desperately resisting the repeated attacks of the Japanese army.
With their superior squad firepower, artillery support, and heavy machine guns, they repeatedly repelled the Japanese offensive.
For every step the Japanese army took forward, they had to pay an extremely heavy price in casualties.
Just then, the chief of staff of the 8th Infantry Brigade strode over, holding an urgent telegram from the front lines.
"Reporting to the Brigade Commander! The enemy on the west bank is launching a full-scale offensive with a large force, posing a serious threat to many of our positions!"
Upon hearing this, Sei Takehira frowned deeply, pondered for a moment, and then said coldly:
"The frontline troops must hold out until dawn! Before dawn, we must halt the enemy's advance!"
"Once we eliminate the main force of the Third Column in the direction of Madian Town, these Nationalist troops will be no threat at all."
"Hai!" The chief of staff immediately bowed and responded, then turned and quickly left.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief; if all he had to do was hold out until dawn, then the problem wasn't too serious.
Even if the opposing Nationalist troops had a larger counterattack force, they were still mainly infantry, and their ability to attack fortified positions and their impact were ultimately limited.
What he didn't know was that Qiu Qingquan's chariot team had already crossed the Shi River.
A sharp knife had already silently pierced the rear of the Japanese 8th Brigade.
The night sky over Quanhepu Town was dimmed by the artillery fire from Fenshuiting Township, more than ten miles away. The muffled explosions carried on the wind, making the paper windows of the town tremble.
Because the township of Fenshuiting on the west side was under full-scale attack by the National Revolutionary Army, the two Japanese infantry battalions originally stationed in Quanhepu Town had already been transferred away one after another.
Currently, only a battalion command post and two incomplete Japanese companies remain here, with a total strength of less than 500 people.
The watchtowers on the outskirts of the town stood alone in the night, with sentries huddled behind cover, holding their guns and staring blankly at the distant artillery fire.
They all knew that the main force had been transferred to Fenshuiting Township, and this place was just an empty shell, unable to withstand any decent attack.
At this moment, the area around Fenshuiting Township has become the focus of the fierce battle between the two sides on the western front of Huoqiu.
The headquarters of the Japanese army's Saito Battalion was located in Quanhepu Town. Battalion Commander Saito Honto was holding a telescope, gazing at the sky in the distance, which was stained red by artillery fire.
The binoculars in his hand were burning hot from gripping them so tightly, and the lens reflected the exploding fireballs, but his brows were furrowed.
This unit belonged to the Japanese 6th Division and had entered Nanjing with the main force of the division.
Although they never directly confronted Li Jianghe's Third Column, they were fully involved in the subsequent horrific Nanjing Massacre.
From officers to soldiers, and even the medics accompanying the army, everyone's hands were stained with the blood of Chinese civilians.
Saito Hontomo's gaze was fixed on the fiercely contested town of Fenshuiting.
It is only a little over ten miles away from Quanhepu Town.
In order to block the counterattack of the National Revolutionary Army, the Japanese army deployed more than 3,000 troops in Fenshuiting Township, which is equivalent to a reinforced regiment.
The layers of defensive fortifications stretched from the outskirts of the town all the way to the banks of the Shi River, and were constructed in an extremely tight manner.
Just as Saito Honto was staring blankly at the distant artillery fire, a communications soldier rushed into the command post like a madman.
His face was deathly pale, and he even forgot to give a military salute; his voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Lieutenant Colonel! We've been attacked by enemy forces at one of our pillboxes on the south side!"
"Report from the front: A large number of enemy armored units have been spotted advancing and have now lost contact with the pillbox!"
"What? Armored units?"
Saito Hontomo abruptly put down his binoculars, his face showing disbelief and astonishment.
"Weren't the enemy's armored units all concentrated in Madian Town? How did they end up here?"
He questioned her sharply, but his heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Just as he had thought, Yang Ruifu's First Motorized Infantry Detachment, plus a tank battalion under Baicheng Mountain, were now in operation.
The main force was deployed in the Madian Town area, resisting the Japanese army's attack from two directions, and it was impossible for them to send troops here.
Logically speaking, it is impossible for enemy armored forces to appear south of Quanhepu Town.
Saito Hon'yū forced down his panic and asked in a low voice, "What's the scale? Could it be a feint attack by a small force?"
He still held a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps it was just a small enemy force trying to attract and distract them.
"It's quite a large operation! There are probably dozens of tanks alone!" The battalion staff officer immediately bowed and replied, his face equally grim.
"What?!"
Saito Hontomo's pupils contracted sharply, and he could no longer maintain his composure. He turned around abruptly and rushed into the command post.
His icy gaze swept over the officers in the room, and he barked the order: "Order all units to immediately move into their outer defensive positions!"
"Bring out all the anti-tank guns, quick! We must hold off the enemy's armored forces!"
"Lieutenant Colonel, you've forgotten..." The battalion staff officer's voice carried a hint of despair as he stepped forward to remind him.
"Our anti-tank guns have long been deployed to the Madian Town area to support the main force in combat."
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Saito Honto's head.
He stood frozen in place, stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.
Without anti-tank guns, are we supposed to rely on the Type 38 rifles in the soldiers' hands to fight against the enemy's tanks?
Enemy tanks will never stop to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Thinking of this, he took a deep breath of the cold air, his teeth grinding together.
"Deploy defenses first! Immediately send a telegram to brigade headquarters informing them of the current situation and requesting emergency support!"
Almost the instant he finished speaking, a deafening roar suddenly came from the south side of the town.
That was the roar of a tank cannon, followed by a violent explosion, and the ground trembled slightly.
The Japanese observation post on the south side of Quanhepu Town was instantly engulfed by the explosions from tank cannons.
Bricks, stones, and the remains of Japanese soldiers were blown into the air, and not even a complete scream could be heard.
In the darkness, Qiu Qingquan, his eyes bloodshot, sat in the driver's seat of a Vickers tank.
He personally gripped the control lever, directing the entire tank convoy to charge at full speed towards Quanhepu Town.
"Brothers! Kill all these Japanese devils! Leave no one alive!!!"
He let out a deafening roar, his voice hoarse yet filled with boundless hatred, like a bloodthirsty god of death.
The convoy of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles moved at full speed through the night like a rolling torrent of steel.
Large numbers of infantry followed closely on both sides of the tanks, using the tanks as cover to rapidly advance towards the Japanese positions.
Qiu Qingquan was once a Confucian general who received a Western-style education; he was gentle and refined, and full of strategic wisdom.
But the human tragedy of the Battle of Nanjing completely changed this man.
He changed after emerging from the carnage of Nanjing.
He became somewhat neurotic, with a reckless madness, his very being filled with boundless hatred and murderous intent towards the Japanese army.
He wanted to avenge the 300,000 compatriots who died in Nanjing, and to make those executioners with blood on their hands pay for their crimes.