Chapter 28 3. Jiangyin Fortress

Just when the Seventh War Zone fell into a multi-headed leadership and chaos, on November 27, as the commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison, General Tang Shengzhi held a press conference.At the press conference, Tang Shengzhi said that it is the duty of Chinese revolutionary soldiers to defend the country and fight against the enemy. He will surely make the Japanese army pay a huge price, and he himself will live and die with Nanjing.Two days later, on November 29, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek led Tang Shengzhi, Luo Zhuoying, Zhou Lan, Gui Yongqing, Sun Yuanliang, Gu Zhutong, Hu Zongnan, and Shao Baichang, commander of the Jiangning Fortress, to inspect Zijin Mountain, Yuhuatai, Lion Rock and other Nanjing complexes. It started from Zhenjiang 75 kilometers east of Nanjing City, passed through Danyang, Jintan, and Liyang to Lanxi to complete the arc defense line.

The Japanese army is also actively preparing for the capture of Nanjing.Since the Central China Front Army of the Japanese Army formulated the "Outline of the Second Operation Plan" on November 24, on November 25, this outline has been successfully distributed to the 10th Army and the Shanghai Expeditionary Army.At the same time, General Matsui Iwane, the commander of the Central China Front Army, ordered the two armies to prepare for the battle in Wuxi and Wuxing.At the same time, according to the "Outline of the Second Operational Plan", the Central China Front Army decided to make preparations in the east of the Wuxi-Wuxing line in early December to capture Nanjing in one fell swoop.

After breaking through Wu Fu's position in late November, the Shanghai Dispatch Army continued to advance westward.The 13th Division occupied Qingyang Township on November 28th.The Chongteng Detachment advanced to the southwest of Changshu, entered the Jiangyin-Wuxi highway, cut off the highway, and then assembled in the north of Wuxi according to the order of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army.The main force of the 16th Division, 11th Division, and 9th Division completely occupied the Wuxi area after breaking through Wangting. After learning that the Chinese army was retreating from Wuxi to Changzhou, the Shanghai Expeditionary Army Command ordered the 16th Division and the 11th Division to attack Changzhou with a pursuit team, and at the same time ordered the 9th Division to maneuver on the water of Taihu Lake. Pursue Changzhou with the main force. If the Chinese army in the Jiangyin Fortress resists tenaciously and cannot capture it quickly, then use the 13th Division and mixed cavalry to block the Jiangyin Fortress and prepare for an attack.

As for the 11th Division, the Army Staff Headquarters once planned to use the main force of the 11th Division and the heavy rattan detachment as the core to land in South China and capture Guangzhou, so it ordered the 11th Division to also gather in the north of Wuxi. The 11th Division is still commanded by Amaya Shinjiro, head of the 10th Infantry Brigade, composed of the 12th Infantry Regiment of Zentsuji, the 23rd commander of Adachi, and the 22nd Regiment of Matsuyama Infantry, the 22nd Regiment of the Matsuyama Infantry of Yongjin Zuobi. Together with the 13th Division Together with the 16th Division, they attacked Nanjing along the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway.

With the collapse of the Chinese army's line of defense in Xicheng, the pursuit troops of the Japanese divisions followed the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Taihu Lake, and the highway on the north shore of Taihu Lake.At the same time, the Central China Front ordered the 11th Division and the Chongteng Detachment to gather in Wuxi, and the 3rd Division to gather near Taicang.After Yanagawa Hirasuke's 10th Army captured Wuxing and Changxing, the 114th Division continued to pursue Yixing and Liyang, and ordered the Kunisaki Detachment and part of the 18th Division to attack Si'an and Guangde. The main force of the army gathered near Wuxing .

Since November 25, Yanagawa Heisuke, commander of the 10th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered that "the main force of the 10th Army should gather near Changxing and Wuxing, capture Yixing with the 114th Division, and capture Guangde with the 18th Division to ensure future advances." After the "Strength Point", the divisions and regiments of the 10th Army made quite smooth progress.After the 114th Division captured Changxing on November 25, with one as the advance team, it captured Yixing on November 28, and then went straight to Liyang. The 18th Division, under the command of Lieutenant General Ushishima Sadao, assembled its main force in Wuxing on November 25, defeated the Chinese troops in front of it with the pursuit team, and cooperated with the Kunisaki Detachment to form a siege on Guangde trend.Subsequently, the Japanese 18th Division and the Kunisaki Detachment broke through the 21st Army's defense line after launching several consecutive attacks on the 21st Army of the Sichuan Army.Due to the order of Chen Cheng, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Seventh Theater, the 23rd Army, which suffered heavy losses after three days of fierce fighting with the Japanese army, was ordered to retreat, and the 11th and 14th Divisions in charge of the periphery were also ordered to withdraw to southern Anhui. The 18th Division occupied Guangde on November 30.The 114th Division occupied Liyang on December 2 after the 144th and 147th Divisions of the Chinese Army withdrew.

So far, all units of the Central China Front Army of the Japanese Army have occupied the advancing strongholds used to attack Nanjing as planned, and the troops of China's Third Theater and Seventh Theater have also withdrawn from the Xicheng Line, Yixing, Guangde and other places.Subsequently, the commander of the 10th Army Yanagawa Hirasuke immediately decided that the 18th Division would attack Xuancheng and Wuhu, and the main force would attack Nanjing from the Langxi line. The south bank of Taihu Lake and the Beijing-Shanghai line were not defended one after another, and the situation in Jiangyin was not much better. Since November 27, the Jiangyin front line has also suffered fierce battles.From the early morning of November 27, the Jiangyin Fortress artillery and the Japanese army broke out a large-scale artillery battle.The Japanese artillery fired at the fortress of the Huangshan Fortress, and was immediately counterattacked. The Dongshan and Xishan fortresses of the fortress opened fire at the same time, and the artillery battle between the two sides was extremely tragic.Immediately, the Japanese army raised two observation balloons to guide the artillery to bombard the Jiangyin fortress using the azimuth intersection method. The two sides broke out again with heavy shelling, and Japanese aircraft also attacked frequently.

In addition to ordering the fortress artillery to suppress the artillery fire of the Japanese army and navy, Liu Xing, commander-in-chief of Jiangfang, also ordered: "He Zhizhong's 103rd Division and Miaochengliu's 112th Division strengthened the defense of the fortress area, and the 103rd Division was responsible for Huangshan, Junshan, and Wushan. The 112th Division is responsible for the defense of Jiangyin City and its surrounding areas, and the 111th Division is stationed at the Jingjiang and Tianshenggang lines in the north of Jiangbei as a reserve team .” After receiving Liu Xing's order, He Zhizhong, the commander of the 103rd Division, immediately ordered "The 103rd Division will use the 613th Regiment to guard the Wushan and Xiangshan lines, the 618th Regiment to guard the Wanshan and Yunting Town lines, and the 615th Regiment as a reserve." The division headquarters of the 618th Regiment is located near Huangshan Mountain, and the regiment headquarters of the 618th Regiment is located at Jintongqiao.The 103rd Division, like the Sichuan Army that was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army on the south bank of Taihu Lake at this time, is not directly affiliated to the central government. The division belongs to the centralized Qianjun Department. In the summer of 1999, it was moved from Anshun County, Guizhou Province to Huangpi and Macheng areas of Hubei Province. After taking over the defense of Liu Duoquan's 105th Division of the Northeast Army, it deployed defenses in Huangpi, Lishan, Huang'an, Macheng and other places.

Since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the whole division was ordered to be stationed in Luotian County, Hubei Province to gather and stand by. At the same time, the division headquarters ordered: "All officers who are on vacation will return to the army in advance, and all family members accompanying the army will be sent back to their original places for resettlement." "August 13" Songhu Anti-Japanese War broke out Afterwards, the 103rd Division was first ordered to transfer more than a thousand officers and soldiers to Shanghai to supplement the 88th Division of Sun Yuanliang who was fighting against Japan. Then the whole division was reorganized and the original two brigades and four regiments were reorganized into three infantry regiments. Luo Yibin's 613th Regiment, Zhou Xiangkui's 615th Regiment, Wan Shijiong's 618th Regiment, and units directly under the division such as the Secret Service Company, Engineer Company, Communication Company, and Health Team.

Then in late August, the 103rd Division was ordered to go to Shanghai to fight. It was transported eastward by ship from Wuxue, landed in Xiaguan, Nanjing, and took the Shanghai-Nanjing Line train to Shanghai.After the main force of the division arrived in Wuxi, it was ordered to go to Jiangyin instead, under the command of Liu Xing, commander-in-chief of Jiangfang. When they arrived in Jiangyin on September 5, the national army from Shanghai was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army in the western Huxi area on the front line of Shixianggong Temple, Dachang, and Yunzaobang.Commander-in-Chief Liu Xing ordered the 103rd Division to set up defenses along the river to the east of Liuhai Town on the south bank of the Yangtze River in Nantong County to prevent the Japanese from landing and to protect the left back of the main force of the national army in the western Shanghai battlefield.

In mid-October, after the fall of Dachang, the 103rd Division's task of covering the main side of the Huxi battlefield in Liuhai Town, south bank of the Yangtze River in Nantong was completed. It was ordered to transfer to Jiangyin and began to serve as the side security of Jiangyin Fortress. On October 28th, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army began to attack the fortress area, fought fiercely with the outpost troops guarding the Yangshebei area, captured the outpost positions in Jiangyin, and approached the frontiers of the main positions such as Wushan and Dingshan. On October 29, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army and the main force of the mixed cavalry team, under the cover of fighter planes and warship firepower, began to launch a fierce attack on the main position of the Chinese army in Jiangyin. The Japanese Navy's 3rd Fleet also began to attack the fortress. The artillery bombardment was carried out, and the Jiangyin fortress troops immediately counterattacked. The artillery battle between the two sides lasted for 3 hours. During the battle, the fortress artillery sank one Japanese ship, damaged two ships, and shot down one Japanese aircraft.The Changshan fortress in the Jiangyin fortress area was hit and destroyed by the Japanese army in this artillery battle. While the two sides were bombarding each other with heavy artillery, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army also frequently attacked the positions of the 613th Regiment. Luo Yibin's 613th Regiment, in addition to staunchly resisting with the support of artillery fire from the fortress, also repeatedly launched counterattacks and fought close combat with the enemy. , Dingshan and other positions were lost and regained. After a day of hard work, the Japanese attack was finally repelled. The next day, the Japanese army attacked the 618th Regiment's position led by chariots.Since the 618th Regiment had already dug anti-tank trenches, the Japanese tanks were blocked when they entered the front and outer trenches of the position and could not pass.The fierce fighting lasted until late at night, and the two sides formed a confrontation.Commander Wan Shijiong of the 618th Regiment immediately ordered Zhao Xu, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, to select more than 10 brave officers and soldiers to form a death squad, climb onto the enemy's tank, and throw grenades into the observation hole and the turret cover on the roof of the tank. Injure and kill the enemy's driving soldiers, blow up the enemy's tank, and use 9 hand grenades as a bundle to form a grenade bundle and place it under the track of the enemy's tank to detonate. More than 10 death-death team members fought one after another under the rain of Japanese guns and bullets. Although seven Japanese tanks were blown up and the enemy's offensive was defeated, these death-death team members also died. When the Jiangyin Fortress was in full swing, as the Japanese army approached step by step, the deployment of Nanjing's garrison was also being stepped up, and the dual defense lines of the Garrison Commander's Headquarters were also determined: the first line of defense was the outer line of defense. Pass through Niushou Mountain, Fangshan, Chunhua Town, Tangshui, to Longtan. Near this arc line of defense are Moling Pass, Banqiao, Jiangning, Qixia Mountain, Ma Qun, Qilin Gate, Xianhe Gate, Yaohua Gate, Gaoqiaomen and other positions; the second line of defense is the complex line of defense, taking Qingliang Mountain, Yuhuatai, Zijin Mountain, Mufu Mountain, Xiaguan and other Nanjing suburbs as positions.In addition, there is the Yangtze River defense line, relying on Jiangyin Fortress, Zhenjiang Fortress, Wulong Mountain Fort and Shizishan Fort, to block the river. The specific deployment is: Song Xilian's 36th Division guards Yijiangmen and Xiaguan in the Fukuo position; Gui Yongqing's teaching corps mainly guards Zijin Mountain, and part of it guards Guanghua Gate, Zhongshan Gate, and Taiping Gate; Sun Yuanliang's 88th Division guards Zhonghua Gate , Yuhuatai; the gendarmerie regiment of Xiaoshan Order guards Qingliang Mountain and Caochangmen.Peripheral positions: Ye Zhao's 66th Army defended the line from Tangshui to the east of Chunhua Town; Xu Yuanquan's 2nd Army Corps immediately defended the Qixia Mountain, Wulong Mountain, and Longtan line after arriving in Nanjing; Yu Jishi's 74th Army defended Chunhua Zhenjiang, Niushou Mountain to Jiangxinzhou; Deng Longguang's 83rd Army and Shen Fazao's 87th Division guarded Zhenjiang.However, at this moment, Changzhou City fell into the enemy's hands again. Since the 16th Division of the Japanese Army launched its pursuit to the Nanjing front line on November 23, by November 25, the unit had entered the Wuxi and Jiangyin front lines.With the cooperation of the Tiangu Detachment on the left side, on the evening of November 25, the 16th Division formed a three-sided siege on the Chinese army guarding the outskirts of Wuxi.Subsequently, Lieutenant General Nakajima Kagego, the commander of the division, ordered to cooperate with artillery, engineers, and light armored vehicles to gradually erode the positions of the Chinese defenders. By the early morning of November 26, the 16th Division, which followed the retreating Chinese army and pursued it, had already advanced. Under the city of Wuxi, Wuxi was occupied that afternoon. Subsequently, the 16th Division drew out a pursuit force composed of 3 infantry brigades, a light combat convoy, and a field artillery brigade commanded by Major General Kusaba Tatsumi, head of the 19th Infantry Brigade, to pursue Changzhou along the Beijing-Shanghai Railway area. .After mopping up the Chinese troops stranded in the urban area of ​​Wuxi whose retreat route had been cut off, the Caochang Detachment broke through the defenses of the Chinese defenders in Henglin Town and about 4 kilometers east of Changzhou City, and captured Changzhou at noon on November 9. At the same time that Changzhou fell, the Jiangyin Fortress had entered a state of non-defense.After several days of fierce fighting with the Japanese army, by December 1, many artillery pieces in the Jiangyin Fortress had been blown up, and several defensive positions were breached by the Japanese army.The 102nd Division of Bai Huizhang and the 103rd Division of He Zhizhong who defended the Jiangyin Fortress fought fiercely with the enemy for several days, and most of the fortifications were destroyed. This morning, under the cover of its navy and air force and heavy artillery bombardment, the Japanese army captured the Dingshan position firmly held by the Chinese army. Xia Min'an, the commander of the 9th company of the 3rd Battalion of the 618th Regiment, retreated from Dingshan and met the deputy division commander head-on Dai Zhiqi. "Where's your position?" Dai Zhiqi looked at the ragged Xia Min'an in front of him with a livid face. Seeing that Xia Min'an was silent, Dai Zhiqi ordered Xia Min'an to be shot on the grounds that he was unfavorable in the battle and lost his position.Seeing this, Wan Shijiong, the head of the regiment at the side, immediately stepped forward to protect Xia Min'an's crime and meritorious deeds and regain the Dingshan position.Although Xia Min'an was guaranteed, Wan Shijiong also knew that Xia Min'an's 9th company was disabled and there were not enough troops. If Xia Min'an could not counterattack and capture the Dingshan position, Xia Min'an would definitely be punished by military law.So Wan Shijiong ordered Zhu Zhonghua's 7th company to be led by Xia Min'an to counterattack Dingshan. Xia Min'an naturally understood the commander's intentions. The seven-foot-tall Guizhou man saluted Wan Shijiong, then turned around resolutely and led the troops to launch a counterattack.After 5 hours of fierce fighting, the counter-offensive troops finally expelled the Japanese army and regained the Dingshan position.However, the reports received by Commander Wan Shijiong, who had been waiting for the news, and Deputy Division Commander Dai Zhiqi, who was extremely anxious, brought tears to his eyes: "All officers and soldiers of the 9th Company suffered casualties, more than half of the 7th Company lost, and Company Commander Xia Min'an was killed in battle and martyred for the country." The Japanese army swooped on the Jiangyin position with all their strength, and more than 80 aircraft bombed the defending position in turn.The regiments of the 103rd Division and the 112th Division relied on the strong fortifications to hold their positions and desperately resisted the invading Japanese army. Although they repelled the enemy's attacks many times and held the fortress, the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties.Wei Ziyuan, deputy of the 613th Regiment of the 103rd Division, and Liu Songsen, the battalion commander, were killed. Li Yichang, the deputy colonel of the 618th Regiment, Li Zhongchun, the commander of the 2nd Battalion, was injured. Chen Shaopei, the commander of the 1st Battalion, was killed. The two battalion commanders of the 2nd Battalion and the 2nd Battalion were all injured, and Cheng Peng, the remaining 3rd Battalion Commander, was still in command of the battle, and Huo Shouyi, the commander of the 112th Division, was also injured in the battle. By 17 o'clock, the Japanese army had broken into Jiangyin City from the Northwest Pass, and the troops had fallen into chaos.At the same time, the 9th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the Taihu Lake and landed at Shatangkou in the northeast of Yixing. The rear of Jiangyin was likely to be surrounded by the Japanese army. At around 18:00, the battle situation became extremely tense. Liu Xing, commander-in-chief of the Jiangfang Army, called an emergency meeting with military personnel, division commanders, and fortress commanders to discuss strategies to deal with the war situation. Huo Shouyi, the commander of the 112th Division from the Northeast Army, pointed out that "our army has been fighting fiercely with the Japanese army for several days, with heavy casualties. There is no replacement or supplement for troops, so we can only retreat."He Zhizhong, the commander of the 103rd Division, also supported Huo Shouyi's opinion.The principal of Dianlei School, Ouyang Ge, said, "You can walk, you can keep."Only Xu Kang, the commander of the Jiangyin Fortress, still has the attitude of "resolutely not leaving, vowing to live and die with the fortress". All of a sudden, whether to go or stay, the attitude is divided into two factions, and no one can convince the other.At this time, Nanjing called.After answering the phone call, Liu Xing, the commander-in-chief of the Jiangyin Army, announced, "There is no need to argue anymore. Shangfeng has ordered the withdrawal of the Jiangyin Fortress. As for the way to retreat, the artillery fire from the fortress will be used to bombard the west gate of Jiangyin City to cover the infantry to break through. The shelling time started at 20:00 and ended at 0:00 on December 2. After 0:00, the Jiangyin Fortress carried out destruction operations. After the destruction was completed, retreated to Zhenjiang from the Jingjiang area in the north of the Yangtze River. The Jiangfang Command prepared a boat to carry the commander-in-chief to Nanjing to retreat. After the troops are ordered, they immediately act according to the order."