After the July 7 Incident broke out in 1937, Wang Yaowu rushed from Sichuan to Shanghai with the 51st Division to participate in the Battle of Songhu. Although this was a battle on the doorstep of China, the Japanese firepower was strong, and the losses of the 51st Division were considerable. Division Commander Wang Yaowu was angry in his heart, and while pointing to the front and scolding the devils for being cruel, he pointed to the sky and scolded the lord for not having long eyes, how could he still come to join in the rain at this time.
The Shanghai area is a rainy area, especially in July, which is really overwhelming, just now it is still sunny, and in the blink of an eye, it will rain endlessly. Such light rain caused great trouble for the Chinese defenders. Originally, the terrain in Shanghai was not high, and the Songhu area was even more low-lying, the soldiers were doing fortifications, digging trenches, and they could see the water without digging a few times. There was water in the trenches, and the soldiers could only soak in the water. Someone simply took off his shoes to fight.
What made Wang Yaowu even more satisfied was that the continuous light rain flooded the trenches everywhere into water dragons, and many soldiers who could not be lightly injured in the line of fire were soaked in the water for a long time, and the wounds became more and more serious, and within a few days, they would become seriously injured and died in vain.
The rain brought trouble to the Chinese defenders, but also caused a certain impact on the devils, and the planes could not be counted on, and they could only increase the bombardment of the artillery. Later, the Japanese sent in cavalry to charge and kill, and at one point broke through several positions of the 51st Division. The Devil's cavalry was fast, could easily cross the puddle when encountering puddles, and was quite mobile, posing a lethal threat to the Chinese defenders. On August 29, unable to withstand the fierce bombardment of the Japanese army, the strategic luodian was lost, and the side of the Chinese defenders was exposed to the Japanese army. The 51st Division, in charge of the left wing, could only retreat to places such as Shuangcaodun. The double grass piers are two small hills about 500 meters apart, with a large market behind them. In the past, it was very lively, and merchants from all over the world were doing business here, but now the whole street is running without a shadow.
The 51st Division had just been stationed, and the Cavalry Company of the Japanese 3rd Division followed, and it was a rush to kill, which made the Chinese defenders suffer a big loss. Fortunately, the friendly artillery provided support, which drove the ghost cavalry back. In order to fight off the arrogance of the enemy, he summoned his subordinates to a meeting and asked everyone to brainstorm and think of a way to deal with the ghost cavalry. The battalion commanders all came up to give advice, some said digging big ditches, some said sprinkling iron nails, some said to stretch the rope, and finally had to veto because it was unrealistic and impractical. For a while, everyone had no idea, what can be done about this? At this time, Zhang Lingfu, the commander of the 305th Regiment who was sitting in the back row, spoke up, saying that there was a way to deal with the little devil's cavalry. It turned out that when Zhang Lingfu was inspecting the terrain, he walked around the market specifically, and accidentally found that this was a big market for charcoal trading, and every family was preparing a large number of charcoal baskets, and now people are gone, leaving a large number of charcoal baskets that no one wants.
Zhang Lingfu suggested to the division commander Wang Yaowu that these bamboo baskets be collected and placed in front of the position, and if the ghost cavalry came again, they would definitely be trapped by the charcoal baskets, so that they would not be able to run fast and become live targets. When everyone listened, it made sense, it was a good method, and Wang Yaowu agreed, ordering everyone to collect the charcoal basket in an all-round way and entertain the ghost cavalry well. The next day, as usual, the Japanese raised military hot air balloons to check the Chinese troops' troop arrangements, and then the artillery began a fierce bombardment. Ten minutes later, the artillery stopped and the ghost cavalry came up. The 51st Division had long been familiar with the devil's routine, and when the first artillery fire stopped, all the officers and men immediately returned to their positions from the rear, ready to meet the Japanese attack.
Under the cover of heavy machine guns, the cavalry of the Japanese 3rd Wing rushed over with slogans. However, this time they were not as smooth as before, a large number of charcoal baskets were piled up in front of them, and there were constantly war horses being trapped and mixed up, and later more and more, the ghost cavalry all fell in front of the position, and for a while people howled and howled. The officers and men of the 51st Division were waiting for this time, and the long guns and short cannons all greeted each other, and the devils who beat them cried and shouted at their mothers. The 51st Division became more and more relieved the more it fought, sending more than 100 ghosts back to their hometown in ten minutes, and killing more than 300 horses by the way. The cavalry of the Japanese 3rd Wing was seriously injured, and a large cavalry charge was not organized for a long time. The 51st Division struck hard at the Devil's Cavalry, causing a sensation in Shanghai Beach at that time, and Wang Yaowu also appeared in major newspapers, everyone said that he had courage and strategy, and the Chinese army had such a general, and it would certainly be able to achieve the final victory.