At dawn, two attack aircraft squadrons of the 3rd Flight Regiment of the Japanese Army Air Force appeared almost at the same time in Jinshan County and over Songjiang, and immediately began bombing Jinshan County and Songjiang City.

Half an hour later, the Japanese attack plane returned, and then the Japanese artillery began to shell the enemy.

The 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade was still the artillery bombardment of Jinshan County. In contrast, there was only one mountain artillery corps and a small number of infantry artillery from the 6th Division that bombarded Songjiang.

However, the shelling effect is completely different.

Because the 367th Regiment guarding Jinshan County was shrouded in the city, and most of the officers and soldiers hid in solid traffic buildings or tunnels, only a small number of guard sentries were standing in the ruins, so the casualties were very small. The hundreds of tons of shells thrown by the Japanese in Jinshan County could be said to be in vain.

However, the losses of the 67th Army were much heavier.

Wu Keren is also an old soldier like Zhang Kongyi, and their views are almost the same.

Therefore, Wu Keren placed both divisions of the 67th Army outside Songjiang City, the 107th Division south of the New East Gate, and lined up along both sides of the road, and the 108th Division was placed on the line west of Songjiang City to the south bank of Suzhou River.

In other words, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the 67th Army were placed outside Songjiang City.

Because Songjiang is flat and has a wide view, the officers and soldiers of the 67th Army could hardly take advantage of the terrain when building fortifications, so most of them were civil structure fortifications. Not to mention facing Japanese aviation bombs, even the 70mm caliber 92 infantry shells could not withstand it.

Therefore, under the bombing of the Japanese aviation and artillery, the officers and soldiers of the 67th Army suffered heavy casualties.

After an hour of artillery attack, the Guoqi Detachment and the 6th Division launched an attack on Jinshan County and Songjiang Prefecture City almost at the same time. Although the 367th Regiment had only one regiment and its strength was far less than the more than 10,000 people of the 67th Army, due to proper tactics and Zhong Yi's superb command, the 367th Regiment's situation was much better!

After a fierce battle for a morning, the Guoqi Detachment still failed to capture the three core fortifications of the 367th Regiment, but the 6th Division had already defeated the 107th Division, which was standing outside the Xindong Gate of Songjiang! Zhu Zhirong, the brigade commander of the 321st Brigade, died of his country, and Wu Qian, the brigade commander of the 319th Brigade, was seriously injured! The four regiment commanders below died three!

The 107th Division of the Northeast Army was really defeated!

...

The news came back to Nanjing, and the top leaders were shocked!

Chairman Jiang had already agreed to accompany Mrs. Jiang to Meiling Palace in the afternoon, but after receiving the news of the critical moment in Songjiang, he immediately canceled the trip and rushed to the commander-in-chief.

Chairman Jiang had just walked into the combat hall, and Chen Cheng and other senior generals came immediately to meet him.

"Ci Xiu, what's going on?" Chairman Jiang asked with a frown, "Before dawn, you called Zhang Fakui to confirm that the Japanese army was still not found outside Songjiang City. Why did the Japanese army suddenly appear in Songjiang within less than half a day and defeat the 107th Division?"

Chen Cheng said: "Commissioner, this should be caused by poor communication. Because the Japanese army had already captured Jinshan County before noon yesterday, so Hu Zhi boldly speculated that the Japanese army had advanced outside Songjiang City before dark yesterday and were ready to attack!"

Chairman Jiang said in a deep voice: "Even if the Japanese army advanced to Songjiang before yesterday evening and were ready for attack, Songjiang should not have fallen so quickly! Wu Keren's 67th Army has an army, more than 10,000 people! Zhang Kongyi's 367th Regiment has only more than 1,000 people, and he has been guarding Jinshan County for a long time!"

Chen Cheng said: "The Japanese army dispatched aircraft and cannons to bombard the 67th Army's positions..."

"I don't want to listen to this." Chairman Jiang said, "When it comes to aircraft cannons, which unit on the Songhu battlefield has not been bombed by Japanese aircraft cannons? It's not only their 67th Army that was bombed!"

After a pause, Chairman Jiang said furiously: "I also said to hold on to Songjiang for at least seven days, only half a day, only half a day, Songjiang was lost, and Songjiang was lost in half a day!"

Chen Cheng whispered: "Commission, strictly speaking, Songjiang City has not been completely lost yet."

"Is it interesting to fight for this now?" Chairman Jiang said furiously, "Yes, strictly speaking, Songjiang has not been lost yet, but the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway has been cut off by the Japanese army. The troops gathered in the battlefield in western Shanghai and the materials can no longer retreat through this railway line. What is the difference between this and Songjiang's loss?"

Chen Cheng was speechless immediately because he couldn't find any words to refute.

Because the reason why the 67th Army was ordered to defend Songjiang to the death was to ensure the smooth operation of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway.

But now, the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway has been cut off. Is there any difference between whether Songjiang has fallen?

"My mother, a bunch of waste!" Chairman Jiang said angrily, "and said that he could hold on for seven days, but he couldn't even keep it on the last day. He was simply a bunch of cowards! Waste!"

Bai Chongxi couldn't help but say, "Committee, it's meaningless to say these things now. I'd better think about how to deal with the current crisis."

He paused and continued: "The Japanese army is about to capture Songjiang, and the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway has been cut off. The Japanese army landed from Baimakou will soon capture Taicang and cut off the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway. If it is dragged down, more than 100 divisions gathered in western Shanghai, and the 500,000 troops will be completely finished! So the most urgent task is to order a retreat quickly!"

"Yes, commissioner, please order the withdrawal of troops!"

"Jiansheng is right, he really can't delay it anymore!"

He Yingqin, Chen Cheng and other staff also agreed.

"No!" Chairman Jiang flatly refused, "I also received an urgent call from Weijun from Brussels in the morning. The Nine-Country Convention will be held today and the Chinese incident will be discussed!"

He paused and said, "Order the front line troops to hold on for another day no matter what!"

"Commission..." Chen Cheng wanted to persuade him again, but Chairman Jiang waved his hand to interrupt.

"I am the same as before," said Chairman Jiang. "If you consider the problem, you cannot only consider military affairs. You must consider it from multiple aspects such as politics and economy. If you stick to Shanghai for a day, it may cause greater losses, but it can make Western countries see Japan's face more clearly and make Western countries more convinced of our determination to resist to the end. Then it will be easier to obtain assistance from Western countries in the future!"

Hearing this, Chen Cheng, Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin and other staff members immediately lowered their heads.

Chairman Jiang refused to withdraw his troops, what would they do? They could only continue to stand up!

Gripping his teeth, He Yingqin said in a deep voice: "Then there is nothing much to say. At present, we can only give the 67th Army the death order, telling Wu Keren that even if we fight for the last soldier, we cannot allow the Japanese army to cross Songjiang!"
Chapter completed!