Chapter 22: The Eve of the Breakout (Part 2)

  The four-line warehouse on the west side is the command post of the Japanese army's Sakae Detachment.

  The truck which suddenly broke through the blockade line also startled Lieutenant Colonel Sukesanjiro and Major Kitaisho.

  "Colonel, the observation post reports that the Chinese army has unloaded a dozen or so large steel cylinders from their trucks, but it's unknown what's inside the cylinders."

  "Gas cylinder?" Hirasaka Jirō's expression changed dramatically, "Could it be a chemical weapon?"

  "This……" Kitajima Takeshi's face also changed color instantly, and he shook his head immediately. "It shouldn't be that serious, right? This place is adjacent to the International Settlement, not even the Imperial Japanese Army dares to openly use chemical weapons, let alone the Chinese army? Besides, it's impossible for the Chinese army to have chemical weapons, right?"

  "It's also possible." Hirasaka Jirō furrowed his brow and said, "So what exactly is inside these bottles?"

  Kitajima Kiyoo said, "Colonel, it's useless to make wild guesses like this. It would be better to send a telegram to the division headquarters immediately and ask the Tokko section to investigate the origin of these steel bottles."

  "Alright, Lieutenant Kitajima, you're right. Go and send a telegram to the division commander!" Sekizaka Jirō thought for a moment, then specifically instructed, "To be on the safe side, until the Special Higher Police have investigated the origin of these steel bottles, the Imperial Japanese Army cannot launch another battle. Tomorrow's attack will be led by General Zhiyuan's Shenyang Garrison Brigade."

  "Yes." Kitaōji took a deep bow and immediately set off.

  …………

  It's been five days again, and now it's November 20th, 1937.

  For the past five days, the Sihang Warehouse battlefield has been as fierce as ever. Although the Japanese 36th Regiment did not participate in the attack again, the puppet Manchukuo Shenyang Security Brigade launched a desperate attack on the Sihang Warehouse. After five days of intense fighting, the Shenyang Security Brigade suffered nearly three thousand casualties and was basically crippled.

  For the past five days, the people of the International Settlement have been enthusiastically cheering on the heroic resistance of the Baoshan Garrison on the south bank. The song "Two Hundred Heroes" that the bespectacled man sang loudly that day has now spread to both banks of the Suzhou River, not only among the officers and soldiers of the Baoshan Garrison but even among the beggars in Shanghai who can sing it loudly too.

  Foreign journalists gathered on the south bank of Suzhou River, either out of curiosity or humanitarian aid, sent back to their home countries the anti-war scenes and textual materials of the Four Banks Warehouse. Mainstream media in the Western world also began to pay attention to this battle far away in the East. International public opinion gradually shifted from its initial neutrality to sympathy for China.

  However, throughout the entire anti-Japanese battlefield, the National Army was unable to achieve a thrilling major victory. Instead, under the Japanese army's attack, the battlefields on both the southern and northern fronts abandoned cities and lost territory, collapsing in defeat!

  In the North China battlefield, Taiyuan and Linfen fell one after another, and the remnants of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and Central Army retreated to the Zhongtiao Mountain line. Almost all of Shanxi had fallen, with only the Eighth Route Army continuing guerrilla warfare in the northwest mountains of Shanxi. Fortunately, due to insufficient troops in the Japanese Sakai Division, coupled with a long logistics supply line, they were forced to stop their offensive.

  On the battlefield of Songhu, the Japanese army has already entered Jiangsu Province. Two days ago, the 68th Regiment of the 3rd Division of the Northern Route Japanese Army, also known as the Takaeda Kō Regiment, captured Kunshan. The Southern Route Japanese Army's 10th Corps occupied Wuxing and Changxing. By today, the Japanese army's northern and southern forces have pushed the front line to the Changshu, Wuxi, and Wuxing areas.

  Up to now, except for Baoshan Garrison, there were no other National Army troops in the entire Songhu area.

  Of course, the nine elite divisions of the Japanese Central China Area Army and two infantry brigades and two heavy artillery brigades also almost all went to the front line. Except for Sakai's 36th Infantry Regiment, only two newly transported supplementary troops were left in the Songjiang area. At this point, the timing of the Baoshan camp breakout was finally ripe.

  …………

  Zhabei, Headquarters of the 36th Division of the Japanese Army.

  At 2:00 a.m., Kitaōji Goro walked in with an iron face and said to Sobasaka Jirō, "Colonel, the Tokko department has investigated and found that those steel bottles were all filled with oxygen."

  After five days, the Japanese military's intelligence agency Tokko finally figured it out.

  It wasn't that the Japanese military's Tokko was incompetent, but rather because the National Government's Bureau of Investigation took advantage of this opportunity to engage in an unprecedented and brutal secret war with the Japanese military's Tokko in Shanghai.

  "What? Oxygen!?" The expression on Sugasaka Jirō's face also turned extremely unpleasant.

  "Yes, oxygen." Kitajima Takeshi bowed his head sharply and said, "Major General, due to our mistake in the war, we were unable to eliminate the Chinese army at the Four Banks Warehouse for a long time, which led to unfavorable public opinion towards the Empire internationally. The Division Commander and the Commanding Officer are extremely outraged, and this matter has even shocked the Imperial Headquarters."

  Wakisaka Jirō's face suddenly turned pale and he said in a low voice: "What does the Regimental Commander mean?"

  Kitajima Kōshirō said: "The division commander's order is that the remaining Chinese troops in the Sihang Warehouse must be cleared out before nightfall tomorrow."

  Wakisaka Jirō's facial muscles twitched instantly, he knew that the commander-in-chief was truly enraged this time. If they still couldn't capture the Yokohama warehouse tomorrow, then he would really have to commit seppuku to apologize to the Emperor!

  The guard suddenly entered and reported: "General, Commander of the Heavenly Guard Division, Yu Zhishan, requests to see you."

  "Let him in." Sugasaka Jirō waved his hand, tomorrow's decisive battle, the Fushun Guard Regiment still had to take the lead.

  Yuzi Mountain quickly came in and didn't wait for Sakai Jiro to speak, he hastily said: "Colonel, I have important intelligence to report."

  "What important information?" asked Obasaka Jirō, "What information?"

  "General, my guards just reported that they heard a strange noise coming from beneath the command center."

  "Bah!" Abazuka Jirō's anger was simmering, and he suddenly burst out in a rage, "Your nonsense! How can there be strange noises underground? Are you saying that the Chinese pig will turn into a rat and burrow under the ground...?"

  Saying so, Katsuragi Jirō's voice suddenly stopped, and he turned his head towards Kitajima Takeo.

  Kitajima's face also showed a mysterious expression for a moment, and then he shouted almost simultaneously with Wakisaka Jirō: "Oxygen, tunnel excavation, engineer blasting!"

  "Sapper blasting?" Yu Zishan whispered, "What blasting? Those crippled toys are going to dig tunnels to escape."

  "Get out!" Kitajima Takeshi slapped Yuzuki Yamato's face without warning, then turned around and yelled, "Withdrawal, all personnel evacuate the command center immediately!"

  …………

  Four-line warehouse, ground floor hall.

  Including Yue Weihan, the remaining hundred or so officers and soldiers of the Baoshan camp had all changed into the enemy's military uniforms. However, more than 20 seriously wounded soldiers did not change into the enemy's uniforms. At this time, Yue Weihan and several company and battalion commanders were silently shaking hands with the seriously wounded soldiers to bid farewell. As for the bodies of over a hundred martyrs who had died in battle, they had also been moved deep into the tunnels.

  "We'll come back for you after we've recovered from our injuries and continue to fight the devils!" a seriously injured Sichuan soldier said with difficulty.

  "Good! You will always be the soldiers of Baoshan Camp, and you will always be my soldiers!" Yue Weihan choked with emotion, "As long as you take good care of your wounds, I'll welcome you back to the team anytime!"

  After finishing speaking, Yue Weihan turned his head towards Yang Shaocheng and said: "Director Yang, I'll entrust these brothers to you."

  "Don't worry." Yang Shaoceng said solemnly, "Our Eighth Route Army office will definitely do its best to protect these seriously injured men. Once they recover from their injuries, we'll think of a way to send them out of the concession."

  "Alright!" Yue Weihan suddenly turned around and gave a cold order, "Fire!"

  Guard Liu Tiezhu, stationed at the entrance of the tunnel, immediately pressed the detonator. In an instant, a faint muffled sound came from deep beneath the ground, and the ground under their feet began to shake violently. Including Yue Weihan, all the officers and soldiers in Baoshan camp were knocked to the ground in an instant, and no one could stand up again.

  About two hundred meters west of the warehouse, a three-story building that was used as the command center by Sakai Saburō suddenly shook violently twice and then collapsed with a loud crash. In an instant, a massive cloud of dust spread out in all directions like a tsunami, almost completely blocking out the entire north bank of Suzhou Creek in less than a moment.

  At this moment, people in the entire International Settlement, French Concession and Japanese Concession all looked up at the same time, gazing towards Zhabei direction. Everyone's eyes were filled with a look of shock. What had just happened? Had the little devils dropped heavy bombs on Zhabei? But when did the devils' bombers dare to take off at night?

  ……

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  Introduction:

  He was that kind of man - the new commander of the Eight Nation Alliance slammed his fist on the table, bellowing: "Catch him! Even if it means sacrificing the entire Pacific Fleet, catch him!"

  He is such a person - in order to protect him, he actually sacrificed the lives of 3,728 excellent soldiers!

  But every warrior who fell would tell you this before dying:

  "Protect him with your life! Until the last drop of blood is shed!"