Colonel Muller was trapped in Zhenjiang. He went to the Internet to help the Chinese Navy set up anti-aircraft artillery positions. Unexpectedly, the Japanese army advanced very quickly. It was mainly because after Jiangbei occupied Yangzhou, it launched a fierce battle with the Chinese Army's Yizheng in Jiangbei. In order to delay the Japanese army's attack, according to the suggestions of German and Austrian military advisers and naval forces, Wu Ziyu, as the commander-in-chief of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, ordered the Yangtze River waterway to be blocked with a shipwreck.

The shipwreck plan was personally directed by General Chen Shiying, Deputy Chief of the Navy. According to the plan, the Navy collected dozens of civilian ships and more than 300 fishing boats, preparing to block the waterways with shipwrecks in Jiangyin, Zhenjiang, Dangtu and Pengze, forming four blockades.

On September 21, under the personal command of General Chen Shaokuan, the Chinese Navy sank on the Yangtze River Channel on the Jiangyin Line with 8 old ships, more than 20 merchant ships and nearly 200 civilian ships filled with stones. It used wrecks to form a blockade line that blocked the Yangtze River Channel, making it impossible for the Japanese Navy to move smoothly along the river.

China invested nearly 300,000 troops in the Songhu battlefield, and suffered casualties of up to 120,000 in three months of fierce battles. Most of the troops have been crippled and need to be retired. Even if the Japanese army has the support of warships, they have lost 60,000 troops on the Songhu battlefield. This is like slapping people in the face of Matsui and others who are clamoring in front of them. In terms of equipment, the Chinese army is not worse than the Japanese army, and they even use the Central Division equipment organized by Austro-Hungary and German troops in firepower that is even stronger than the Japanese army.

The Japanese army was able to make breakthroughs in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, on the one hand, because this is not the central area of ​​China's dominance, and the Chinese deployed troops on this line is not very strong. On the other hand, it is because the Japanese army's firepower support provided by the navy, and their aviation forces gradually gained an advantage. Due to the insufficient number of airports, China could only maintain the number of about 460 aircraft of two aviation divisions in Shanghai. However, after the Japanese army mobilized the army's aviation forces to arrive, they had deployed 1,200 land aviation combat aircraft around Shanghai. At the same time, the navy could also dispatch about 400 fighter jets to provide support.

Even so, the Japanese army, which had the advantage in numbers, only had a slight advantage in the air.

Wu Peifu decided to defend Nanjing to the death. The three-month battle of Songhu gave him great confidence. He now has 22 divisions, more than 400,000 troops, and also has support from some naval ships. Japanese warships were blocked from the Jiangyin blockade line. In the short term, they could not enter the vicinity of Nanjing at all.

Zhenjiang Fortress is under the command of the Jiang Defense Force of the Navy. In addition, it is equipped with the 14th Division of the CSKA, the 25th Division and the 2nd Division of the Hubei Army.

"..., from the perspective of the movements of the Japanese army. The 18th Division, 114th and 116th Divisions, 1100,000 people have captured Nanxun and are attacking Nanjing along the south bank of Taihu Lake. The other route includes the 6th, 9th, 13th and 101th Divisions attacking westward along the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway. Chasing our retreating troops; in Jiangbei, the 11th Army composed of the 3rd, 21st and 106th Divisions of the Japanese army have occupied Yangzhou and are fighting fiercely with our army on the Yizheng-front line. Judging from the current situation, the Japanese army attempted to capture Nanjing in one fell swoop, but the reinforcements of Sichuan, Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces we planned at the beginning cannot be used for the time being due to incomplete equipment."

In the war room in Nanjing, Chief of Staff Jiang Fangzhen, who was hurried back from Wuhu, stood in front of the big map and analyzed the situation. He put down the baton in his hand and returned to his seat. Wu Ziyu, who was sitting in the main seat, was still looking at the map, slowly calculating the comparison of the forces between the two sides. In the combat conference room, the Zhejiang army, including most senior generals from Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Henan and Jiangxi provinces, and the reinforced Guangxi army are now retreating. They have fled to Wuxi, and the attacking Japanese army cannot encounter organized resistance at all.

"It seems that the Japanese are very afraid of me. They want to encircle me in Nanjing." Wu Ziyu stood up and walked to the map: "The Japanese army on the southern line is coming with great force, intending to march along Nanxun, Huzhou, Guangde, and Xuancheng. It seems that they want to attack Wuhu and cut off our retreat." He looked up at Linger, "I wonder what suggestions do the German and Austrian military advisory team have?"

"We don't think we have to stick to the gains and losses of one city and one place. Your problem is that you have no sense of counterattack in the retreat. This makes the Japanese drive straight in more unscrupulously." Linger stood up and walked to the front of the map. "The Japanese army on the southern line is completely out of touch. According to the latest information, the 116th Division, the vanguard of the Japanese army, had occupied Huzhou, but the 18th Division had just arrived in Jiaxing, and the 114th Division followed it landed in Jinshan. So we believe that our army should concentrate its forces on the southern line and give the Japanese army a major blow. From the front line from Zhenjiang to Danyang, the defensive troops took advantage of the terrain to try to hold the main force of the Japanese army attacking in the middle line. The longer the last time, the better."

"Where is the counterattack location we chose?" Wu Ziyu asked.

"Guangde!" said Linger, pointing to Xitiaoxi on the map and said, "When the Japanese army crossed this river and began to attack Guangde, we launched a counterattack from the north, west and south directions to press the Japanese army towards this river, and strive to cause the greatest damage to the enemy before the Japanese army fled to the other side of the river."

"Well, then we will have to mobilize at least five divisions." Wu Ziyu said.

"Of course, the more, the better." Ringer replied.

"Brother Baili, there are some remaining guns in Nanjing before the relocation of the Jinling Arsenal, including about 8,000 imitation Japanese hook rifles. First distribute them to Yang Zihui's 20th Army and let them participate in this operation. Tell him that if the war is done, I will include them in one of the first troops to be reorganized into Austrian equipment." Wu Ziyu turned his head and said to Jiang Fangzhen.

"Their equipment and training are very poor, and I'm afraid they will be embarrassed." Jiang Fangzhen said.

"Hey, Han Xin is the general soldier, and he will do more than one person. This time I want to make the Japanese devils look good and kill them with great power!" Wu Ziyu said, "They really don't treat us as a dish."

The retreating Chinese army quickly turned into a retreat under the attack of the Japanese army. Except for the Fourth Division who left a regiment in Wuxi to block the Japanese attack, the remaining troops, including the Second Central Army, the 10th Division and the First Zhejiang Army, and the Third Division, had lost their will to resist. The troops were fleeing with all their strength, and even the commander-in-chief Sun Xinyuan had no choice.

This is the problem of the Chinese army. If the defense line is broken, the entire line will immediately collapse.

The entire army was retreating to Nanjing, all heavy equipment was discarded, and even the wounded were abandoned. While running away, various rumors made the defeated soldiers panic and exacerbated the chaos.

The defeated troops continued to flee westward, and the entire Shanghai-Nanjing Highway was in chaos.

The 17th Army, composed of the Guangdong-Guangxi Army under Ye Qi, did not retreat along the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway with the Zhejiang Army, but turned to the direction of Yixing in Wuxi. In the past two months of combat, the 17th Army had lost more than one-third of its troops, and now the troops are less than 30,000. However, the Gui army is well-trained after all, and under the command of him and Bai Chongxi, it still maintains a certain combat effectiveness.

After leaving the railway line, they finally got rid of the Japanese army's pursuit. (To be continued. (.))
Chapter completed!