Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 66: Bloody Battle at Lion Grove Fort (1)

Yue Qianli had visited the Lion Grove Fortress in his previous life, so he knew a little about this place. This is a forest close to the Yangtze River embankment, named Lion Grove because of a huge rock in the area that looks like a sleeping lion.

In the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Zeng Guofan, the governor-general of Liangjiang, built a fort here, which is the origin of the Lion Grove Fort.

The Lion Grove Fort is part of the Wusongkou Fort. There are 4 Wusong Forts, including the Lion Grove Fort, for a total of 5.
The Wusong Ancient Forts were the frontline positions where the national hero Chen Huacheng led his troops to fight against the British invaders. After decades of vicissitudes, these ancient forts are still responsible for guarding the coastal defense.

The West Fort was located on the west bank of the Huangpu River estuary and had 175 cannons. It was Chen Huacheng's main position against the British. It was destroyed after being captured by the British.
The East Battery had 50 guns and was an auxiliary position to the West Battery, which was also destroyed by the British;
The South Fort was built in the early 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. During the 128th Battle of Shanghai, the 19th Route Army held the fort and engaged in a fierce artillery battle with the invading Japanese troops in Shanghai. After landing, the Japanese troops blew up the north and south forts.

Now there was only the Lion Grove Fort left, with more than a dozen ancient cannons. Although these cannons were still usable, Yue Qianli did not intend to rely on them to resist the Japanese who had planes and naval guns.
They couldn't even withstand the attack of Britain's old 19th century ships, let alone the Japanese warships.

But these artillery batteries can still be used. After taking Liao Jianping and others on a tour, he said:

"The biggest problem in the defense of the Lion Grove Fort was how to avoid the Japanese naval guns and aerial bombardment. The fort was not a good choice because it was too big and would be a sitting duck.

After a careful inspection, I decided to send only a small number of troops with machine guns to guard a few permanent fortifications, to attract the enemy's firepower and prevent them from landing.

The main force all retreated to the second and third line positions, dug a large number of cat-ear holes on the reverse slope of the river bank, and the first and second companies were responsible for defense. The third company and the supplementary team served as the reserve force and built field fortifications in the woods 300 meters away from the river bank.
The machine gun company is on standby. When the time is right, use the rocket launchers to cover the enemy's heavy troops, and then leave..."

Everyone understood that their defense was to create opportunities for the machine gun company, and they would hold out when they were outnumbered;

When the Japanese launched a group charge, they used rocket launchers to cover it. Only in this way could they hold out for three days and buy precious time for the main force to deploy defenses in depth.

This is destined to be a battle of sacrificing the self for the sake of the whole. Everyone must be determined to die and fight the enemy to the death.

Liao Jianping immediately stated:
"Captain, don't worry. None of our brothers are cowards. As long as we are alive, we will fight the devils to the death and never give up!"

Yue Qianli was moved after hearing this and praised loudly:

"Never give up! This is the indomitable spirit that China needs. As long as we keep fighting, we will win the final victory one day!

The Japanese may land again at any time, time is running out, hurry up and repair the fortifications."

Everyone took the order and left, and Yue Qianli's expression became firm - if you want to fight, then fight!

The Japanese did not give the Second Battalion much time to prepare. While the soldiers of the entire battalion were repairing fortifications day and night, more than 20 large and small warships slowly approached Wusongkou;
Then more than a dozen planes flew in from between the sea and the sky, dropping a string of evil bombs on the Lion Grove Fort, and the Japanese attack began.

The officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion huddled in their anti-artillery holes, silently enduring the ravages of the Japanese aerial bombs;
Yue Qianli ordered his men to demonstrate the benefits of building the anti-artillery cave with its back against the river embankment. The probability of a bomb falling from a high altitude hitting the reverse slope is lower than winning a prize, and the machine gun firepower network in the permanent fortifications is sufficient to support them until they can react.

The focus of the Japanese bombing was naturally the permanent fortifications of the artillery battery. When the Japanese bombed, the defenders all retreated to the tunnels on the flank of the bunker. There were lookouts in the tunnels so that they could observe the movements of the Japanese at any time. This would prevent them from being killed by the shock wave when the shells hit the bunker.

The Japanese planes had just dropped their bombs and left when a barrage of naval artillery shells came flying over again. They were all heavy shells over 120 mm. To the army, these shells could only be described as horrifying; the shells came one round after another, endlessly, repeatedly trying to wipe the entire Lion Grove off the map.

It was unknown how long it had been before the artillery fire began to spread, and dense landing craft carrying thousands of Japanese soldiers began to land on the beach;
Compared with the West, the Japanese's landing combat capability was far behind, and they could only deploy one or two battalions at a time.

After the vanguard was destroyed by the Nationalist Army, they could only continue to land at Wusongkou. The main force of the 98th Division fought desperately at Wusongkou, and the first wave of attacks was repelled;

The Japanese moved the landing point to the Lion Grove Fort, where the manpower was much weaker. The Second Battalion simply did not have enough firepower to stop them from looting, so they simply allowed them to land.

When the Japanese landing troops saw that the defenders did not fire at them, they shouted excitedly and rushed to the river bank under the command of officers at all levels.

The Japanese landing on the beach could not be hidden from the observation posts in the permanent fortifications, and they blew the whistle immediately;
The machine gun crew members hiding in the tunnel ran out one after another, then went into the bunker and set up Type 5 heavy machine guns and Maxim heavy machine guns. The five Type heavy machine guns seized in Luodian finally came in handy.

When the densely packed Japanese infantry entered the machine gun's range, the machine gun in the permanent bunker suddenly opened fire at the Japanese. More than a dozen large and small tongues of fire sprayed towards the group of Japanese, sweeping them down one by one. The Japanese's blood dyed the entire river beach red, and blood flowed like a river.

At this time, the Japanese heavy firepower could not be deployed, and they could only rely on the fire support from the distant naval guns, so the charge was very difficult. Nearly two battalions of Japanese soldiers struggled painfully on the river beach;
The soldiers of the first and second companies, who had been hiding on the reverse slope of the river bank, filed out of the anti-artillery holes, set up their machine rifles and fired wildly at the Japanese, knocking down the unprotected landing Japanese one by one on the river beach.

The permanent fortifications of the Lion Grove Fort were all built with reinforced concrete in a cylindrical shape. They were built at great expense by the Nationalist government under the guidance of German consultants. They are extremely strong, with a top thickness of half a meter, and can withstand attacks from naval guns over 200 mm. They are still intact in later generations.

The heavy machine gun firepower in the bunker became the nightmare of the Japanese. It complemented the light firepower on the river bank and killed many Japanese soldiers. The river beach was covered with the shit-yellow corpses of the Japanese. Yue Qianli, who was several hundred meters away, felt very relieved when seeing this.

Colonel Ando Juuzo, the commander of the 11th Regiment of the th Division, even wanted to die, as his st Battalion was annihilated in Luodian.

Nearly a thousand people from the second and third battalions were wiped out by the 98th Division. After retreating, they were scolded by the division commander, Lieutenant General Sotake Yamamuro.

After the scolding, nearly 2 men were drawn from the baggage and engineering regiments to supplement them, and only then was the 12th regiment restored to its original structure;

As the main combat regiment of the 11th Division, Yamamuro Munetake naturally could not allow the 12th Regiment to be wiped out. If news of this got out, it would be a disgrace to the 11th Division.

"Bakayaloo, a bunch of rubbish!
Tell them to retreat. Hurry up and call for the naval guns to kill the Chinese and kill the chickens!"

Anda 23 shouted angrily, "The Second Battalion has hurt them again this time. In just a short time, they have suffered two or three hundred casualties.

A cruel smile appeared on Yue Qianli's lips. His rocket launcher had not been used yet. This was just the beginning.

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(End of this chapter)