You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you ended up with a German-equipped division

Chapter 72: The Pocket Formation – Two Japanese Companies Annihilated

"yes!!!"

After speaking, Shimono Ichigo ordered the artillery units to conduct intensive artillery fire on several blocks near the breach in the city wall.

The Japanese army concentrated over a hundred artillery pieces and launched a dense barrage on the area.

At this moment, in Nanjing, the defeated soldiers who had been gathered from the direction of Yijiang Gate were receiving their weapons.

Amidst the booming of artillery fire, they received rifles from the supply battalion's weapons depot.

These rifles are of various types, including Type 38 rifles, Type 24 rifles, Mauser rifles, and submachine guns.

Many of the soldiers were originally from ragtag units, using old-fashioned rifles and Hanyang rifles, or even no weapons at all.

But things are different now. The guns they received were the kind that only elite troops used to use, and there were even submachine guns that they had been eyeing.

Not only that, but they also provided enough bullets.

Previously, when they were fighting, each soldier would typically carry no more than thirty rounds of ammunition.

In some areas, the troops couldn't even muster twenty bullets, and once they ran out, they had to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese.

Now the rifles are issued ammunition, each with at least 90 rounds, enough for them to cope with several consecutive high-intensity battles.

Each person should have at least three grenades.

They even provided helmets, gas masks, lunchboxes, canned food, compressed biscuits, beef jerky, and so on.

They had seen helmets and gas masks before, and they had even picked up some canned food from the Japanese positions, but these compressed biscuits were a rare find.

It feels like gnawing on a brick, but once you chew it up, it tastes delicious, and one piece is enough to make your stomach feel incredibly full.

As for beef, it was an absolute delicacy for these soldiers.

In those days, even some small landlords could only afford to eat meat a few times a month, but the Third Provisional Regiment distributed four or five packs of beef jerky to them, each pack being enough to serve as a meal.

At this point, the soldiers of the Provisional Third Regiment, who were responsible for training them, began to explain how to use each item.

This includes how to open a can, how much compressed biscuit to eat at once, and how to use a gas mask, etc.

With weapons and equipment, as well as ample food, the soldiers felt more confident.

It's better than not having bullets, not having enough to eat, and not having the energy to fight the Japanese.

After arranging everything, Li Jianghe shouted to the crowd:

"Brothers, do you see that area ahead covered by artillery fire? We're going over there now to fight the Japanese to the death."

I will not abandon you like your superiors did; I will fight alongside you!!!

After saying that, he put the helmet on his head, picked up a submachine gun, and was the first to charge forward.

The soldiers had originally planned to stay, but now that they had received their weapons and ammunition and their officers were leading the charge, their morale was naturally boosted, and they joined the fight.

Li Jianghe led his troops to wait in the street, about 200 meters away.

Once the Japanese artillery bombardment ended, they would immediately seize the blocks in front and use the existing barricades for defense.

The roar of artillery fire shook the earth, and within just half an hour of bombardment, several neighborhoods were reduced to ruins and rubble.

The instant the artillery bombardment ended, Li Jianghe roared:

"Occupy the block ahead!!!"

He gave the order, and at that moment, a large number of soldiers charged forward.

The soldiers of the Provisional 3rd Regiment took the lead in occupying the pre-built barricades, and the defeated soldiers who had been gathered were directly incorporated into the operational order of the Provisional 3rd Regiment.

As the Japanese soldiers gradually came into view behind the smoke, Li Jianghe shouted:

"Fire after the red signal flare is launched!"

The order was relayed rapidly throughout the neighborhood.

Although the defeated soldiers who were gathered together had just been incorporated into the combat troops, they had all experienced the Battle of Shanghai and were already quite experienced in combat.

To be honest, many of the new recruits that Li Jianghe summoned were not as good as these experienced veterans in terms of combat effectiveness.

At this moment, two Japanese companies were already passing through the ruins of the tofu workshop and approaching Jiqing Road.

Meanwhile, troops were also expanding to the flanks, attempting to outflank Zhonghua Gate and capture it as well, thus completely cutting off the retreat route of the Nationalist troops in the Yuhuatai direction.

The two companies of Japanese soldiers encountered no resistance as they passed through the tofu shop.

This gave the Japanese army the illusion that the enemy had given up resistance and were all fleeing, and that there were no more enemies there.

As they got closer to Jiqing Road, Li Jianghe slowly raised his hand.

Finally, just as the Japanese soldiers were about to cross Jiqing Road, he suddenly brought down his hand.

"Whoosh!!!"

A red signal flare was launched into the sky at that moment.

Almost instantly, Gao Zhisong's troops, hidden on the city wall, along with the five heavy machine gun squads that Li Jianghe had dispatched, opened fire.

The firing positions north of Jiqing Road and east of Mingyang Street also opened fire simultaneously.

Machine guns also opened fire on the Japanese troops from the Shuixi Gate city wall.

The firepower from all four directions spread out like a giant net, instantly knocking the Japanese soldiers to the ground.

"Enemy sights!!! Open fire!!!"

The Japanese commander shouted and brandished his samurai sword, signaling his soldiers to charge into the streets and alleys.

But as soon as they entered the alley, submachine guns and rifles popped out from the windows on both sides and from the firing ports carved into the walls.

"Da da da!!!!"

Hand grenades were also thrown at this time, landing among the Japanese soldiers who poured into the alley.

"Boom!!!!!"

Explosions followed, and the first thirty-odd Japanese soldiers who rushed into the alley were instantly turned into thirty-odd corpses.

Upon seeing such fierce firepower, the Japanese troops hastily retreated and surged towards the breach in the city wall.

But at that very moment, mortars and field artillery also came raining down.

That was a salvo from all 46 artillery pieces of the artillery battalion.

The covered area is where the breach in the city wall is located.

If the Japanese army wanted to retreat, they would inevitably pass through this area, which would be the best time to open fire.

With a roar, the whistling sound of cannonballs crashed down.

The two hundred or so Japanese soldiers who survived by sheer luck were bombarded with artillery shells as soon as they reached the breach in the city wall.

"Boom!!!!!"

Loud explosions continued, and shells rained down like hailstones.

Before long, the breach in the city wall was filled with the corpses of Japanese soldiers.

Only a few dozen Japanese soldiers managed to escape from here.

In the 6th Division headquarters, Tani Hisao watched as dozens of Japanese soldiers rushed out in a disheveled state amidst the smoke of battle, but there was not a trace of the other soldiers.

"They didn't leave. They set up an ambush around the breach in the city wall, waiting for our troops to slip in."

Shimono Kazuhiro gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, so cunning, so incredibly cunning!!!"