Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 92: Bloody Battle at Yunzao Beach (1)

On the south bank of Yunzaobang, the 88th Regiment of the 527th Division was ordered to assist in the defense. Because the 88th Division annihilated the enemy's Marine Corps Headquarters at this time, the Japanese army only retained half of its base at Huishan Wharf in Jiangwan. After losing its foothold, the Japanese army did not deploy too many troops in the direction of Jiangwan.
The elite 88th Division became the reserve force of the Central Army. The Japanese army was unable to make any breakthrough in the Luodian area for a long time and suffered more than casualties, so they changed the direction of attack. The main reinforcements, the th and th Divisions, landed in the Central Defense Zone and headed straight for Yunzaobang, threatening the flank safety of Dachang and the th Group.

The 72nd Army received an order to send a powerful unit to assist in the defense of Yunzaobang and Dachang. Sun Yuanliang had no choice but to send the 264th Brigade to Yunzaobang to plug the gap, and Yue Qianli's Second Battalion was also assigned a defense area.

Zhuozao River, also known as Zhuozao River, is named after the dense growth of Zhuozao in the river. It is an important trunk river in northern Shanghai and a tributary of the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.

It is located in the southern part of JD District and the central part of Baoshan District. It starts from Suzhou River in the west and ends at Huangpu River (Wusongkou) in the east, with a total length of 34.64 kilometers.

Yunzaobang is strategically important in Shanghai. The Taiping Army once relied on the Yunzaobang River to fight against the British and French forces.
During the "January 28" War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhuzaobang was also a strategic location. The headquarters of the Songhu War was located in Nanxiang Town, Jiading. The Japanese army attempted to occupy the Zhuzaobang Pass to cut off the relationship between Wusong and Zhabei and to divide and encircle the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army. The National Army and the devils fought a desperate battle here.

Once the Japanese army occupied Yunzaobang, the flank of the 88th Group in Zhabei would be exposed. Although this was the defense zone of the Left Army, the Central Army still sent part of the most capable 527th Division to assist in the defense, while the th Regiment was assigned to the Yunzaobang Bridge, which had the greatest defensive pressure.

After rushing to the defense zone, Liao Lingqi followed Yue Qianli's advice and only deployed one battalion on the front line, which could effectively reduce the casualties from aircraft and artillery.

"Yue Qianli, don't bother two masters with one thing. Since you are the one who proposed this suggestion, then the Second Battalion will take it. If you have any difficulties or requests, please feel free to ask."

Yue Qianli immediately protested:
"Captain, you can't just grab a sheep and pluck its wool. Captain Li's hair is also very dense, so you can pluck it, too."

Seeing that Li Jie was gloating, Yue Qianli was about to drag him into the water. Li Jie immediately said that he was still very tender and not suitable for plucking. He really didn't care about his face.

When Yue Qianli looked at Deng Zhuxiu, Deng Zhuxiu was shaking his head like a rattle. Liao Lingqi spread his hands and said:

"See? We can't rely on them, old man. You can do more work! Just tell us the difficulties and requirements."

Yue Qianli saw that the three villains had reached an agreement and that his objection would be futile, so he raised his demands confidently:
"The enemy's artillery fire was too fierce, so I needed to build a systematic civil engineering project in advance, and the brothers from the first and third battalions had to assist us;

Second, the regiment's artillery battalion will be reinforced to the Second Battalion, and all the German mines in stock will be given to us. The main force of the regiment will be ready to support the Second Battalion in counterattacks at any time;
Third, assist the Second Battalion in taking good care of the injured brothers. Provide support when they are short of medical care and medicine, and I will repay you later."

Before Liao Lingqi could answer, Li Jie took the lead and said:

"There is no problem with these. We are all brothers. There is no need to talk about repayment. When the troops are insufficient, there are dozens of reinforcements in a battalion. They will be given to you all."

Deng Zhuxiu also expressed his opinion:
"If you have any of the ones you like in the Third Battalion, feel free to ask for them. I don't have any reinforcements because they were all taken away by you."

Everyone laughed after hearing this. Now Yue Qianli could only shoot himself in the foot. Who made him the most powerful soldier and the most powerful firepower? The more capable he was, the more work he should do. Liao Lingqi also agreed to assign the artillery battalion to the second battalion and allocated them a base amount of ammunition. Yue Qianli changed his face and agreed to defend the position. He patted his chest and knew the truth that "the crying child gets the milk".

Time was of the essence, and after reaching a consensus, the entire regiment assisted the Second Battalion in constructing fortifications;

There were several permanent bunkers on both sides of the railway bridge, but Yue Qianli felt that they were not safe enough, so he thickened the top cover with several layers of cement and stones. In order to increase the shock-absorbing effect, he put wet wood in the middle.

The communication trenches connecting the bunkers and tunnels were also reinforced, and a large number of German mines were buried on the periphery to effectively prevent the Japanese infantry from approaching.

Yue Qianli placed all the heavy machine guns in the bunkers, and reinforced each bunker with three Czech light machine guns and a squad of machine gun crew members, which could effectively suppress the Japanese troops crossing the bridge.

At the same time, circular fortifications were built on the south bank of the river relying on favorable terrain. The soldier hiding caves were all located on the reverse slope of the relatively high earth slope. Only in these high-lying places could tunnels for hiding soldiers be dug. Other places had too much water seepage, so at most some cat-ear holes were dug on both sides of the communication trenches.

It is said that there is strength in numbers. With the joint efforts of more than 2,000 people in the group, it took only two days and two nights to dig out a circular civil engineering structure that satisfied Yue Qianli.

All the soldier hiding caves have been reinforced with wood and various building materials. Each cave can hide two squads of soldiers. Unless they are hit directly by heavy bombs, the damage to them will be limited.

In order to facilitate rapid reinforcement of troops, at the request of Yue Qianli, each horizontal trench was connected by several vertical communication trenches, and there were also two left and right communication trenches connecting the soldier hiding cave to the trench.

Since the water in Yunzaobang was not deep, the Japanese army could wade across the river. The defense area of ​​the Second Battalion just blocked the enemy's route across the river. The entire Yunzaobang river defense line was more than ten kilometers long.

国军总共摆下了第32、第57、第78、第16师、税警总队、88师264旅等部将近十万大军严防死守。

After the defense line was built, the main force of the regiment withdrew to the second line. They also began to build the defense line according to the standards of the second battalion. No one dared to be vague about the matter of saving their lives.

The 2nd Battalion's line of defense consisted of nine trenches in total, the first three of which were forward positions and were defended by the 1st Company;
The three middle lines are the main positions, where the second and third companies, the battalion headquarters, and the artillery battalion are deployed and commanded by Yue Qianli himself. They are about a hundred meters away from the first three positions.

The last three positions are mainly composed of machine gun companies, replenishment teams, and baggage teams. They are about 300 meters away from the core position. This distance can maximize the advantages of the rocket artillery platoon, while being far away from the main battlefield and not easily attracting the attention of Japanese aircraft and heavy artillery, thereby preserving themselves and destroying the enemy to the greatest extent.

It was another sunny morning. The Second Battalion was sweating profusely while reinforcing the fortifications. Suddenly, a shrill anti-aircraft whistle sounded. Everyone stopped their work and, under the organization of the squad and platoon leaders, quickly and orderly hid in the anti-artillery caves.

Not long after they hid, more than a dozen planes arrived over the defense zone of the Second Battalion. Since the bridge defended by the Second Battalion was the key area for the Japanese army to break through, they also received "special attention" from the Japanese aircraft group.
The Japanese dispatched more than a dozen planes to defend the front of several hundred meters, which made Yue Qianli couldn't help but complain:
"Damn it, you really think highly of me!"

(End of this chapter)