Volume 1: Bloody Battle of Shanghai Chapter 4: Alleyway Battle! Alleyway Battle! (Part 2)

  Kobayashi Masuo narrowly escaped with his life, but the orderly behind him had his head blown off.

  Kobayashi Masao looked intently, only to see his orderly soldier being violently pushed, and then fell straight outwards. Before falling, a blood hole the size of an egg had already appeared on his forehead, and more than half of the skull at the back of his head was completely torn open, with brain matter splattered everywhere.

  Kobayashi Masao composed himself and turned back to see that the infantry squads rushing into the gap had instinctively reacted, with more than half of the soldiers in each squad quickly occupying the circular street barricades at the intersection, preparing to block the enemy on the spot. The remaining infantrymen also searched for cover on the rubble field at the intersection and lay down, while light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers were quickly set up.

  Kobayashi Shōnan let out a sigh of relief. The Imperial Japanese Army was indeed one of the world's top-notch armies, able to remain calm and composed in the face of any emergency situation. Without a doubt, if the Chinese army's suicide squad were to rush out into the streets, they would be met with the merciless and intense firepower of the Imperial Army.

  However, the scene that Masao Kobayashi had hoped to see did not unfold. The Chinese army's death squad did not pursue them out of the street entrance but stopped at least 300 meters away from the street entrance and quickly hid in the civilian houses on both sides of the street. Suddenly, two loud explosions were heard, and two large clouds of smoke burst out from the rubble where the Imperial Army was hiding. More than a dozen Imperial Army soldiers were blown up into the air, and when they fell back down to the ground, they had been dismembered into many pieces.

  "Baka Yarou, Shina's army is cunning, they've buried explosives in the rubble!"

  Dozens of Japanese soldiers who were just lying on the rubble suddenly stood up with a rustling sound, and at this time, the vanguard squad that had retreated also happened to rush into the rubble through the circular street barricade. The two sides squeezed together and immediately became somewhat chaotic. Shōichi Kobayashi cursed loudly and was about to step forward to reorganize the troops when a red signal flare suddenly shot up in front!

  Kobayashi's heart skipped a beat, instinctively sensing that something was terribly wrong. Before he could react, the sound of intense gunfire erupted in his ears. As he looked around frantically, he saw at least three firing points emerging from the rubble on the edge of the site, with at least four light and heavy machine guns positioned above, forming a dense network of intersecting fire that left no blind spots.

  The sheep, the invincible and unbeatable Imperial Japanese Army has now become a flock of sheep waiting to be slaughtered!

  Under the crossfire of at least two Czech-style heavy machine guns, at least two Czech-style light machine guns and more than a dozen rifles formed by the Chinese army, the panicked and confused Imperial Army warriors were like wild grass cut down by a sickle, falling down in pieces. This is a thorough trap, and the Imperial Army that fell into the trap has no chance of resistance.

  "Whoosh..."

  In the distance, a cold light flashed on the roof of the house, and Shōsuke Kobayashi suddenly did a backflip, rolling down the gap with a rumbling sound.

  …………

  Thirty minutes later, Hirano Ichiro's headquarters.

  "Eight Gyaruu!" Iwano Ichiro slapped a palm heavily on Kobayashi Masao's face.

  Hirano Ichiro couldn't believe it, in less than two hours, the Sakaki detachment, which had nearly 200 men and three infantry squads, was defeated by the branch troops, and not just defeated, but almost annihilated! The Sakaki detachment's number can already be erased from the organizational chart of the 3rd Division!

  Since the "July 7" incident, the Great Japanese Empire and China have been fully at war. The 3rd Division has participated in dozens of battles, big and small, and has never had a precedent for an entire squadron being annihilated, let alone a platoon! However, today, Kobayashi Squadron set a very bad precedent for the 3rd Division!

  "Hey!" Kobayashi Masao turned his head back, then suddenly bowed his head. "Sir, I will wash away my shame in the manner of a samurai, but before I die for His Imperial Majesty, I have a few words to say."

  Hirano Ichiro's eyes gleamed with a murderous intent as he growled fiercely: "Speak!"

  "Sir, the Chinese troops inside Baoshan City have apparently changed their commander. The new Chinese commander is extremely cunning and particularly skilled in alley warfare. I request that you consider changing our attack strategy. If we continue to charge forward recklessly, I fear that more Imperial soldiers will lose their lives here. Please, sir!"

  "This is no longer for you to consider." said Hirano Ichiro coldly.

  "Ah." Kobayashi Masao bowed his head again, then entered the next room with a military sword in hand. Soon after, a sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh and blood was heard from the next room, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. Hirano Ichiro pulled open the door to find Kobayashi Masao already kneeling on the ground facing east, his abdomen cut with a standard cross-shaped wound, the blade protruding from his back.

  "Command......" Hirano Ichiro suddenly turned around, and a beast-like glow instantly burst out of his eyes.

  The other three squadron leaders standing behind Hirano Ichiro immediately straightened their chests, and Hirano Ichiro shouted: "Calling carrier-based aviation troops, requesting tactical support, informing the fleet department, requesting artillery support, Yamaguchi, Kono, Matsui squadron, all members make preparations for battle, launch an attack at 12 o'clock sharp."

  …………

  Inside Baoshan City, National Army soldiers are nervously clearing the battlefield and collecting weapons left behind by the Japanese army.

  "Fantastic, it's too damn fantastic!" Cao Xinglong exclaimed as he collected the Japanese soldiers' hand grenades while excitedly looking up at Yue Weihan. "One of our guys took out nearly two hundred little devils, and our regiment only lost a dozen or so brothers. At this rate, one of our regiments can take down an entire enemy division, haha!"

  "One-sided wishful thinking, a foolish person's wild talk." Yue Weihan hummed and said, "This time the little devils were deceived, it was because they were usually arrogant and didn't know our strength. Now that they've tasted the bitter fruit, how could they not learn from their lesson? From now on, the little devils won't be so easy to deal with!"

  "Heh heh." Cao Xinglong scratched his head and chuckled, "As long as there's an officer around, the brothers won't be taken advantage of."

  The nearby guards and veterans chimed in: "Exactly, brothers have never fought such a battle before. These little devils are like they're discussing with their superiors, when the superiors tell them to charge, they charge in, when the superiors tell them to retreat, they retreat obediently, when the superiors tell them to lie down, they really lie down, it's simply more obedient than a turtle grandson."

  "Sir, why don't you tell those little devils to withdraw from Shanghai and this war will be over."

  "Nonsense, leaving Shanghai is not enough? They should also leave the four northeastern provinces and best go back to their country to overthrow their emperor."

  When the old soldiers of the guard squad were talking nonsense, an old soldier not far away was rolling his eyes. Behind this old soldier, on a pile of rubble, lay an officer who was leaning back with his legs crossed, meditating with his eyes closed. It's said that this guy was also a notorious troublemaker in Yao's camp, and Chi Chengfeng, the squad leader of the third squad of the fourth company, was one of the only three remaining squad leaders in the whole regiment.

  "Long queue, this group of guards are really nothing. The old soldier secretly glanced at Yue Weihan and then turned back to Chi Chengfeng, whispering, "So soon they've hugged the thick legs of that little white face."

  "Damn it." Chi Chengfeng cursed and said calmly, "You can't say that this little white face really has something, this battle is really mysterious. Last night when we were fighting, the east was hitting one's head against a brick wall and the west was hammering nails in vain, but today when we started fighting, the little devil was actually cleaned up and left to pick up teeth all over the floor. Unbelievable, impressive!"

  That old soldier snorted: "If it weren't for Cao Xinglong and the guards platoon, those bastards wouldn't have been able to get him out so quickly."

  "Who's that, what's he doing?" Yue Weihan seemed to have heard something and glared fiercely at the old soldier. He then turned to Chi Chengfeng who was lying on the ground with his legs raised and said, "And you, Platoon Leader Chi, are you waiting for money to fall from the sky? Get up quickly and clean up the battlefield, finish your work and leave! The enemy's artillery won't wait for anyone!"

  "His grandma." Chi Chengfeng flipped a carp with one hand and picked up two more three-eight large covers.

  After Dai Weihan turned and walked away, Chi Chengfeng whispered to the old soldier beside him: "His grandma, this little white face is quite good at showing off his official power, making the little devils really follow him like a grandson, let's fight if we have to?"

  The words had barely fallen when a sharp and urgent whistling sound suddenly rang out from above.

  "His grandma, he's really fighting!?" Chi Chengfeng was suddenly shocked and quickly rolled away like a rolling gourd to hide under the broken wall beside him. Although this guy looked stupid and clumsy, he escaped faster than a monkey! Before he could react, Chi Chengfeng had just dodged, and the place where he was standing just now had already burst into a huge cloud of smoke and dust. The old soldier who had just spoken to Chi Chengfeng was torn in two by the air wave, and then thrown into the sky.

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