freenovelworld Chapter 924 Beware of What's Behind You
Chapter 924 Beware of What's Behind You
"Poison gas! It's mustard gas! Quick, take precautions!" The veteran who had experienced the Battle of Shanghai shouted hoarsely.
What is touching is that the defending troops were not unprepared for this.
Before the war, the Supreme Command had disseminated some rudimentary protective measures to its subordinates based on intelligence that gas warfare might occur.
Almost simultaneously, soldiers and assisting civilians pulled out towels, scraps of cloth, and even torn pieces of clothing, quickly soaking them in their canteens, or... directly pouring urine on them.
The ammonia in urine can neutralize the toxicity of mustard gas to some extent.
Despite the rudimentary nature of the towel and its pungent odor, this simple measure saved countless lives in critical moments.
With their mouths and noses covered by damp cloths and their eyes squinted, the soldiers held their ground, blindly firing at the direction of the Japanese troops who might sneak up under the cover of the poisonous fog.
The situation was even more dire in the field hospital located in the underground fortifications of Qingliang Mountain.
Although the poison gas was not easy to infuse, a small amount still seeped in, which made things even worse for the wounded.
The military doctors and nurses themselves covered their mouths and noses with damp cloths as they worked amidst the pungent smell.
A military doctor with a background in traditional Chinese medicine directed his men to boil a medicinal soup in a large pot. The soup contained herbs such as licorice, mung beans, and honeysuckle, which are known for their heat-clearing and detoxifying properties.
Although it cannot directly detoxify, administering it can alleviate the burning pain in the respiratory tract and vomiting symptoms of poisoned individuals to some extent, and enhance their resistance.
"Hold on for as long as you can, every extra moment counts!" The old military doctor's voice echoed amidst the steam and the smell of medicine.
The resilience of Nanjing is not only reflected in its city walls.
In the lulls between Japanese heavy artillery bombardments, and in the streets and alleys where the poison gas smoke was temporarily dispersed by the wind, ordinary citizens built another line of defense in their own way.
Behind the ruins inside Zhonghua Gate, retired baker Lao Zhou built a makeshift oven out of bricks. Braving the constant danger of being hit by stray bullets, he mixed the limited flour he had brought from Xiaguan Wharf with bran and sugar bran to bake hard, long-lasting cakes.
He said, "Soldiers need to be well-fed to have the strength to defend the city. I'm too old to carry a gun anymore, so this is all I can do."
In an air-raid shelter crowded with women and children, a blind storyteller, in a hoarse voice, recounted the story of Yue Fei's loyalty to his country and Liang Hongyu's drumming battle at Jinshan.
The children nestled in their mother's arms, listening to ancient stories, their fear seemingly replaced by a vague courage.
The sound of the story drowned out the faint cannon fire outside the cave.
As dusk fell, the Japanese attacks from all directions were once again repelled.
The smoke of battle temporarily obscured the setting sun.
Although the city walls were in ruins and in dire need of repairs in many places, tattered military flags still flew over the main city gates.
General Matsui Iwane, commander of the Japanese Central China Area Army, received a sternly rebuking telegram from the Kyoto General Headquarters, expressing "extreme regret" for the slow progress and heavy casualties.
He then used cryptic language to warn Matsui Iwane to "be careful."
Watch out behind you...
The military headquarters lost direct contact with some divisions.
And those divisions are being mobilized...
But in the end, the military reassured Matsui Iwane and told him to continue the offensive and strive to take Nanjing as soon as possible.
The higher-ups are urgently contacting relevant personnel and have already gone to the palace to see the Emperor.
After reading the newspaper, Matsui Iwane's face turned from red to white, then from white to pale.
Certain divisions?!
The newly arrived Fourth Division?
Was it the 2nd Division that stayed behind to rest and recuperate? The 101st Division? Or the 12th Division?
Or perhaps all of them!
He recalled sending telegrams for reinforcements to division commanders like Okamura Yasuji and Ito Masaki, but the replies he received always said they were on their way.
Matsui Iwane's pupils gradually dilated.
Finally, in a fit of rage, he drew his military knife, a symbol of his status, and slammed it down on the sandalwood table in front of him, roaring at the senior officers who stood with their hands at their sides.
"Incompetent! Incompetent!! Equipped with heavy artillery and even using special ammunition, they still couldn't take down a lone city!"
You have utterly disgraced the Imperial Army! Tell Nakajima, Yoshizumi, Suematsu, and Tani Hisao! Tomorrow! Before sunset tomorrow, I will stand atop the walls of Nanjing! Otherwise, let them commit suicide to atone for their sins before the Emperor!"
Perhaps he had shouted too loudly, because after shouting, Matsui Iwane slumped into his chair as if all his energy had been drained, his expression shifting constantly... one moment fear, the next fierceness, then blankness... finally settling on numbness...
"At dawn tomorrow, concentrate all heavy artillery to bombard the breach in the city wall, and have the entire 9th Division charge in a suicide attack! Tell Yoshizumi Ryosuke that if they cannot break through before noon, he should commit seppuku to atone for the Emperor's sins!"
When the order was relayed to the front lines via field telephone, a deathly gray morning mist was rising over the Yangtze River.
On the Japanese artillery positions, the covers of 240mm howitzers were peeled off one by one.
The reconnaissance planes of the 3rd Air Regiment circled at low altitude. The pilots saw that the Nanjing city wall looked like a wounded giant beast, with many gaps temporarily sealed by the defenders with sandbags and door panels. The flag of the Republic of China was still fluttering between the crenellations.
At 5:37 AM on the 6th, Guanghua Gate
Xie Chengrui threw away the biscuits, grabbed his binoculars, and rushed up the breach in the city wall.
In the hazy morning mist, at least dozens of Japanese tanks lay like turtles on the opposite bank of the moat.
He immediately realized that this was no ordinary artillery preparation; the large number of infantrymen looming behind the tanks indicated that the Japanese were about to launch a general offensive.
"Messenger! Notify all companies to take their battle positions! Artillery observers, contact Lion Hill Fort and request fire support across the moat!" Xie Chengrui's voice was unusually calm, a calmness that affected the tense recruits around him.
Corporal Li Desheng squatted behind the crenellations, examining the old Hanyang rifle in his hand.
He retreated from Zhenjiang three days ago; of the original company of brothers, only seven remain.
"Squad leader, are the Japanese really going to come today?" asked Wang A Mao, a young soldier who was only sixteen or seventeen years old, his gun trembling violently.
Li Desheng did not answer, but pointed to a bright spot that suddenly appeared in the distant sky, which was a Japanese artillery shell cutting through the darkness before dawn.
At 5:45 a.m., the Japanese artillery position
Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke glanced at his watch and nodded slightly.
Instantly, the entire earth began to tremble.
More than two hundred cannons roared simultaneously, and shells rained down on the Nanjing city wall.
The bombardment from the 240mm heavy artillery was particularly terrifying; each shell could blast a deep crater into the entire section of the city wall.
The breach in the city wall near Guanghua Gate continued to widen under continuous attacks, with brick and stone fragments flying hundreds of meters into the air.
The Japanese army adopted a new tactic: first, they bombarded the top of the city wall with heavy artillery to prevent the defenders from counterattacking.
They then used direct-fire cannons to directly attack the defensive fortifications at the breach in the city wall.
Smoke and dust quickly enveloped the entire city wall, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.
Xie Chengrui crouched in the bomb shelter, feeling the earth tremble violently.
Dust fell from above, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and death.
After the shelling ends, the most brutal hand-to-hand combat is about to begin.
At 6:20 a.m., the artillery fire extended.
As Japanese artillery fire extended into the city, Xie Chengrui was the first to rush out of the artillery shelter.
The scene before us was breathtaking. Nearly thirty meters of the city wall to the right of Guanghua Gate had completely collapsed, forming a steep slope.
Most of the original barbed wire and paisley fortifications were destroyed, with only a few sections retaining remnants of the defensive works.