Chapter 11: The Bloody Battle of Nanjing, Alley War 1

  "Could it be that the Chinese have set an ambush inside?" Colonel Hirata was shocked. Despite the cold winter, his sweat still dripped down.

  The subsequent investigation further deepened the doubts in Heiguya's mind. According to the scout's report, the entire street was almost empty of people, let alone the flower girl they had imagined.

  In fact, at this time, Nanjing City, after Zhang Mingyu's careful deployment, has become a huge defensive fortress. Soldiers are hiding in any building on the street, ready to open fire on the devils at any time.

  Although he had grave doubts in his mind, Colonel Hirata was reluctant to retreat without a fight and reluctantly continued to order his troops to advance.

  Hiraya Taishō led the troops forward for dozens of meters, when suddenly a gunshot rang out from a building that was already on the verge of collapse. A guard standing next to Hiraya Taishō immediately fell to the ground.

  "Chinamen, fire!" Major Hirakawa shouted, waving his sword wildly.

  At that moment, the devils opened fire fiercely at the building, and the dense rain of bullets hit the cement wall, splashing mud everywhere. However, the devils did not know the specific location where the National Army was hiding, so they could only shoot randomly without a target, making a loud noise but causing no substantial harm to the National Army.

  After a burst of continuous shooting, Pingguo Taishou waved his hand and more than a dozen devils carrying guns rushed quickly towards the building. When they arrived at the bottom of the building, the devil soldiers found that the main gate of this building had been sealed off. Two devil soldiers immediately took off the hand grenades from their waists to blast the wall.

  However, at this moment, a hand grenade emitting blue smoke suddenly fell from the window upstairs. At that time, two devils' grenades had already been pulled, and more than a dozen devils saw the situation and tried to disperse in panic, but it was too late. With a loud bang, the two devils' grenades also exploded.

  The explosion continued to sound, and after several fires, more than a dozen devils were instantly blown into a bloody mess. Except for two people who ran fast and were lightly injured, the rest were all killed.

  Pingguo Da Sao saw the situation, suddenly got angry and ordered the artillery to open fire. After they blasted open the gate of the building, rushed in, but found that there was no one inside at all, only a small hole on the wall of a room on the first floor.

  "Heiwa Taisha saw the small hole and suddenly became furious, shouting: 'Baka! The cunning Shina people must have escaped from here!'"

  Just then, another devil stepped on the landmine that the warriors had set up before retreating, and with a loud explosion, four more devils were blown to pieces, wailing in agony. Commander Hirakawa saw that not even a shadow of the Chinese army was visible, yet he had already lost over twenty men, and his anger turned to rage as he bellowed: "The Chinese are extremely cunning, their conscience is completely rotten! If we catch them, they will all die!"

  "Ah hai!" The devils on the scene immediately bowed their heads in response and continued to rush towards the depths of the street.

  Along the way, there were frequent ambushes by National Army troops from both sides, with smoke-emitting hand grenades and cold guns firing incessantly.

  About half an hour passed, and the Pingguo United Team finally advanced about 300 meters forward, but they also paid a heavy price, with at least 70 or 80 people being killed or wounded, averaging one person being shot for every four meters of progress.

  "Colonel, the Chinese are extremely cunning and familiar with the terrain, putting up resistance at every turn. If things continue to develop like this, it's not just a matter of capturing Nanjing, but before long our entire regiment will be annihilated." A lieutenant colonel suggested to Colonel Hiraguchi with a heavy expression.

  "Hmm!" Major Hiratani furrowed his brow and fell into deep thought. After a while, he made up his mind and commanded: "Order the troops to adopt blasting tactics and advance forward, clearing out the hidden Chinese army house by house."

  "But, Lieutenant Colonel, in that case, our explosives and hand grenades will probably not be enough." The Japanese lieutenant colonel said quietly, looking around at the numerous buildings with a worried expression.

  "Then send a telegram to the division commander, requesting air support from the aviation troops and conducting carpet bombing of Nanjing!" Colonel Hiraya thought for a moment and also felt it was not appropriate.

  "Ah, yes!" The lieutenant immediately bowed his head in response and turned to leave. Before long, the lieutenant rushed back with a radio operator, his face heavy with seriousness, saying to General Hei: "Commander of the regiment, the division commander requests to speak with you personally!"

  "Hmm?" Major Hiraya looked at Lieutenant Junior Grade and immediately walked over to take the receiver, saying: "Hello, this is Ichiro Hiraya..."

  As soon as Hirao's voice fell, the phone on the other end transmitted Toshi-o's angry scolding: "Hachigaya Route, you idiot, stupid pig-style command, always wanting to mobilize air forces for bombing, does the Empire's aviation fuel and steel cannonballs come free? Other regiments are advancing much faster than your regiment. If not, your unit will immediately withdraw and hand over the task of attacking the city to other regiments."

  "Ah, yes!" After being scolded severely, Hiratake Taichou hastily bowed his head and waist repeatedly, then immediately spoke into the phone: "Please rest assured, sir. I will overcome all difficulties and push forward with full force!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Commander Hirata hung up the phone. The lieutenant commander next to him suggested: "Commander of the fleet, I have a plan."

  "What's the plan?" Colonel Hirata urged.

  "Nanjing city has been surrounded by our Imperial Japanese Army on three sides, and the only direction that can still be broken through is the Chaotangmen direction. I suggest that our regiment advance rapidly along the street towards Chaotangmen, regardless of the harassment of the Chinese army along the way, and make every effort to occupy it, cutting off the retreat route of the Chinese army inside Nanjing city. As long as we surround Nanjing city on all sides, the Chinese army inside the city will be like a turtle in a jar, unable to escape!" The lieutenant colonel sneered as he revealed his plan.

  "Alright! Lieutenant Kobayashi, your plan is feasible. Order the troops to advance at full speed and capture the Yangtze River Gate immediately!" Major Hiraya nodded in agreement and gave the order.

  "Ah!" Captain Kobayashi suddenly bowed his head and quickly turned around to leave.

  Soon, Pinggu Dashao led the entire regiment of over 900 officers and men to continue advancing along the street, completely disregarding the cold guns and hand grenades fired by the National Army officers and men.

  The reason why Pingguo Lian Dui's advance was much slower than other Lian Duais because Zhang Mingyu did it on purpose. The Anti-Japanese War has been going on until now, the National Army has lost city after city and land after land, one defeat after another, the morale of the National Army has reached an all-time low. If they can annihilate a complete infantry regiment of the Japanese devils in the situation where Nanjing is about to fall, it would be like a stimulant for the national army and civilians, greatly boosting their determination to resist Japan and their morale.

  So he wants to thoroughly destroy this Pinggu Allied Team and break the myth of the Japanese army's invincibility.

  And previously, regarding the repeated harassment of the Pinggu Allied Forces, it was to provoke the enemy commander into losing his temper and recklessly advancing forward.

  It so happened that Pingyuan Commander also wanted to occupy the Yangtze River Gate and cut off the Chinese army's retreat, which was exactly what Zhang Mingyu had expected. On the way to the Yangtze River Gate, Zhang Mingyu deployed heavy troops in preparation for a decisive battle to annihilate them.