Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 88: Three Additional Divisions
Battalion Commander Yao finally chose to retreat to the Lion Grove with Yue Qianli. Although his superiors did not explicitly order them to withdraw from Baoshan City, the Second Battalion that was reinforcing them received an order to assist them in retreating to the Lion Grove. There was no need for him to continue defending, otherwise the sacrifices made by the Second Battalion to save them would be in vain.

Yue Qianli also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He was just playing a cautious game, using both bluffing and deception to rescue Yao first. He believed that no one would ask Yao Ying, with only more than 20 people left, to defend Baoshan. Such a commander would be criticized by others!
Time was running out, so Yue Qianli did not stay for long. He led the Second Battalion and the Yao Battalion to retreat decisively to the Lion Grove and meet up with the 527th Regiment.

The 11th Division continued to attack the Lion Grove, and after receiving orders from Sun Yuanliang, Liao Lingqi stopped playing with them;

It would not be long before the Japanese from the 527rd Division would outflank from the Baoshan direction. In order to avoid being cut off from behind by the Japanese, the th Regiment chose to withdraw from the Lion Grove at night.

On the morning of the second day, the 68th Regiment, which had been fully replenished, returned and occupied Baoshan, the empty city that had saddened them.

At the same time, part of the 11th Division occupied the Lion Grove. Baoshan and Lion Grove were lost one after another, but it no longer affected the overall situation.

Yao Ying also wanted to return to the 583rd Regiment. Before leaving, Captain Yao once again shook Yue Qianli's hand and said:
"Old Yue, thank you for leaving seeds for the Third Battalion. I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. I will repay you and the Second Battalion with the heads of the devils!"

Yue Qianli laughed and said:

"That's fine. I never have too many heads of devils. They're just right for building a Jingguan. I'm so ambitious that I can eat the meat of the barbarians when I'm hungry and drink the blood of the Japanese when I'm thirsty.

Brother, see you later!"

"What a joke about drinking the blood of Japanese slaves. It sounds exciting. I really look forward to fighting alongside you, eating the flesh of foreigners and drinking the blood of Japanese slaves together."

"Yes, everything is possible!"

Yue Qianli spoke in a mysterious voice, which made Yao Ziqing full of infinite expectations.

Early September, Kyoto, Imperial Palace
Yu Ren had obviously lost his patience with the Battle of Songhu, while the "expansion faction" and the "non-expansion faction" in the headquarters were still arguing. In particular, the "non-expansion faction" headed by Ishiwara Kanji did not understand the "sacred will" at all. Yu Ren's attitude from beginning to end was very clear, that is, to occupy the whole of China, so he supported the "expansion faction".

The Battle of Songhu was temporarily at a stalemate. Yuren's dissatisfaction with Matsui Iwane was written all over his face. He said to Konoe Fumimaro in a stern tone:

"Konoe-kun, Matsui-kun once solemnly promised me that the war in Shanghai would end in one month and China would be destroyed in three months.

It’s almost been a month since the war started on August 8.13. The Empire has sent reinforcements to Shanghai twice, but not only has the war in Shanghai not ended as planned, there has not even been any major progress. Does the headquarters have any new response plan? "

Konoe Fumimaro immediately understood Yuren's intention. Fortunately, he was prepared. He bowed to Yuren and said:
“Your Majesty, the Chinese have already sent more than 9 troops from Zhu Shaoliang’s 15th Army, Chen Cixiu’s 8th Army, and Zhang Xianghua’s 20th Army to Shanghai.
The 11th, 12th and 17th Corps of the Central Army also arrived in the Songhu area one after another. It can be said that all the elite troops have been deployed, intending to mobilize the entire country to fight a decisive battle with the empire that would determine the fate of the country.

The Empire only deployed two main divisions in Shanghai, which was obviously not enough. Therefore, the headquarters formulated a new troop increase plan, intending to send the 2th, 9th, and 13st divisions to Shanghai, increasing the strength of the Shanghai battlefield to 101 divisions and a detachment, about 5 people, plus the 20 divisions in North China, which was enough to destroy China. "Yu Ren nodded with satisfaction and said:

"Yoshi, the five divisions in East China are enough to deal with the Shanghai war. Tell Matsui-kun to fight with all his might and not be influenced by the anti-expansion faction. The goal of the empire is to destroy China, not to stop at Shanghai.
In addition, the Tenth Army must also be organized, and the corresponding combat materials must be prepared in advance, as the general reserve force, ready to be deployed in East China at any time. "

After hearing this, Konoe Fumimaro was delighted, which showed that Yuren had made up his mind to support the "expansion faction";
The General Staff had already formulated a plan for the 10th Army to land in Hangzhou Bay, but it had not been implemented due to obstruction from the "no-expansion faction".

Once the Tenth Army lands in Hangzhou Bay, the "non-expansion faction" will no longer have any say. Those division commanders who are good at defeating the superior with the inferior will not be restricted by the headquarters. They will definitely go straight to Nanjing, and occupying Nanjing and even the entire China will be a natural thing.

"Your Majesty is wise. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. The rise and fall of the empire depends on this one move. Once the war starts, the only way is to destroy the country. The empire will win!"

After shouting the slogan, Konoe Fumimaro left excitedly. Adding three divisions was not a trivial matter. The amount of war materials that needed to be mobilized was an astronomical figure. He had to coordinate well and try to complete the plan of adding troops as soon as possible.

While the Japanese high-ranking military officers were sharpening their knives, the Jinling government also adjusted the defense zone of Shanghai. The Standing Committee Chairman personally served as the commander of the Third War Zone, and the former commander of the War Zone, Gu Mosan, was demoted to deputy commander.

It has three armies: the left, the center, and the right.
左翼军总司令陈辞修，下辖第15集团军（第4、18、39、54、73、74军以及44师、77师、重炮兵16团），总指挥罗卓英；

第19集团军（6个军）总指挥薛伯陵、江防军（2个军、江阴、镇江要塞）、第11军团（2个师）、第12军团（6个师又3个炮兵团），建制非常的庞大，目前只有第15集团军投入作战。

Central Army, Commander-in-Chief Zhu Shaoliang
第九集团军（朱绍良兼），第8军、71军（原87师王敬久）、72军（原88师孙元良）、78军（原36师宋希濂）、淞沪警备司令部（杨虎）以及上海保安总队（吉章简）；
These armies all directly command one division. For example, the 1th Division where Yue Qianli is located has now been upgraded to the 88nd Army, with Sun Yuanliang serving as the army commander and commander of the 72th Division. The troops are still the same, but the ranks have been promoted one level.

Also planned to be incorporated into the Central Army were the Guangxi clique's 21st Army Group and Hu Shoushan's 17th Corps, but neither has arrived yet.

Zhang Xianghua, commander-in-chief of the right wing army, commanded the 8th Army of the Guangdong Army (Zhang Xianghua concurrently), the 10th Army of the Hunan Army (Liu Jianxu) and the Training Corps. The defense area included the vast area south of the Suzhou River to the Hangzhou Bay.

Among the hundreds of thousands of troops, Yue Qianli's Second Battalion was not worth mentioning, and the same was true for the Third Battalion of the 583rd Regiment under Captain Yao. So when Yue Qianli rescued Yao's battalion, the new commander of the 72nd Army, Sun Yuanliang, only praised him verbally. Saving Baoshan City was just a favor to the big boss Chen Cixiu. After all, the 98th Division belonged to the civil engineering department.

The Ninth Group's mission was still to defend the middle route, to prevent the Japanese from landing in the middle route and attacking Jiangwan, and capturing the strategic location of Dachang;

There were no major battles on the right wing for the time being, and the focus of the battle between the two sides was still on the left wing. The 11th Division and the 3rd Division attacked Luodian in turn, and the 18th Army, the ace of the civil engineering department, fought desperately, and the killing was fierce. The positions changed hands several times.

(End of this chapter)