Volume 1: Blood War Shanghai Chapter 5: Rotten (Part 1)

  Outside Baoshan City, Pingyuan's command center.

  Through the observation port of the command post, it can be seen clearly that six bombers are repeatedly diving and strafing against Baoshan City, and the howitzers of various calibers of the 3rd Division's direct artillery regiment are also wildly bombarding Baoshan City. The entire Baoshan City is being bombed with flames soaring into the sky and smoke filling the air, which can be seen clearly even from behind the high city wall.

  Hirano Ichiro put down the telescope in his hand, and a cold smile spread from the corner of his mouth. He turned to several junior officers behind him and said: "With such intense artillery coverage, even rats can hardly survive. The Chinese army inside Baoshan City is either dead or mostly buried under the ruins. They won't be able to organize any decent resistance anymore."

  At noon, the Japanese artillery fire ceased and the Japanese bombers in the sky also flew away.

  Hirano Ichiro gave the order, and the remaining 600 people of Hirano's brigade launched a simultaneous attack on Baoshan City in three routes. Two incomplete battalions with about 300 people fiercely attacked the eastern gate, while the remaining forces were divided into two routes to launch feints from the western and northern gates. If there was an opportunity, the feint would immediately turn into a real attack.

  After understanding the intentions of the Japanese army, Yue Weihan left only a small number of troops to guard the west and north gates, blocking the enemy's fake attack. The main force was stationed on the main street of the east city, fighting house by house with the Japanese army in a fierce battle. Every house, every pile of rubble, even broken walls became a battleground for both armies to fight back and forth.

  By around 5 pm, Japanese troops once again broke into the central city area, and Yue Weihan personally led a dare-to-die corps in a desperate counterattack.

  Chi Chengfeng charged forward and killed four Japanese soldiers in a row, immediately attracting the attention of a small team leader.

  The little devil captain charged at Chi Chengfeng with his military knife, and after two rounds, Chi Chengfeng knew he had met a worthy opponent. The little devil captain was absolutely a master, with a stable horse stance and an Eastern sword that danced with a whooshing sound. Chi Chengfeng's twice attempted to launch a surprise attack, but not only did he fail to injure the enemy, he almost got his left arm chopped off by his opponent.

  "His grandma, this little devil is quite troublesome?" Chi Chengfeng held up his bayonet and began to confront the little devil squad leader.

  "Boom!" Someone had detonated a hand grenade, and in the midst of the smoke and dust, a palm-sized piece of tile shot towards Chi Chengfeng's left cheek. Chi Chengfeng instinctively closed his eyes and turned his head, a high-level move that would determine life or death if he was slightly distracted. How could the Japanese squad leader let slip this heaven-sent opportunity? He took a sudden step forward, knife at the ready to strike.

  Just as Chi Chengfeng was about to meet his demise, a sudden crisp sound rang out.

  When Chi Chengfeng opened his eyes again, he saw that the little devil's head had been split open, and the tip of the little devil's military knife was only a few millimeters away from his heart. Chi Chengfeng suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and hastily turned his head to see Yue Weihan standing on the ruins not far away, with the smoke from the German-made pistol still lingering.

  Chi Cheng-feng was about to say thank you, when he suddenly saw a devil officer not far away raising his southern pistol and aiming at Yue Wei-han's head. Chi Cheng-feng's eyes widened instantly, just as he was about to shout "be careful", Yue Wei-han suddenly turned around, the pistol in his hand fired without aiming, and one shot hit the little devil's brow, the little devil fell backwards instantly.

  "His grandma, Little White Face shoots quite accurately." Chi Chengfeng curled his lips and whispered two more sentences.

  As he looked around again, Chi Chengfeng found that dozens of little devils who had rushed into the central city area had all been cleared.

  "Chi Chengfeng, don't forget that you're a National Army officer, not some street performer on Tianqiao Bridge!" Yue Weihan took two big strides to stand in front of Chi Chengfeng and scolded him bluntly, "Use your gun to deal with the little devils, stop showing off your knife skills, it's not like you're any good at close combat anyway!"

  Chi Chengfeng grunted and stiffened his neck without making a sound, unsure if he had been heard.

  Cao Xinglong rushed up to Yue Weihan and said excitedly: "Officer, I didn't expect this little devil to be so unbearable."

  Chi Chengfeng said coldly, "The little devils are indeed formidable in mobile warfare, but that's because they have planes covering them from the sky, tanks protecting them on the ground, and light and heavy artillery supporting them. But once we get into this alleyway, their planes, tanks, and artillery become completely useless. In close combat, I'm the ancestor of these little devils!"

  Yue Weihan looked up at the sky, it's almost dark again. The little devils have never been good at night battles, and I estimate that they won't attack again today. He then asked Cao Xinglong: "What is the situation with the troops' casualties?"

  Cao Xinglong said: "The casualties from the sniper fire are not too great, but the machine gun squad and the dare-to-die corps have already suffered more than half casualties."

  Yue Weihan's brow furrowed at the words, and he immediately asked again: "What about the tunnel? How is the excavation going?"

  Yue Weihan left some lightly wounded soldiers in the rear courtyard of the division headquarters to dig tunnels, and even at the most intense moments of the battle, he never deployed these troops to the front line. This tunnel was a matter of life and death for over a hundred people in Yao's camp, and it was also related to Yue Weihan's own life, so the stakes were extremely high.

  "Just now I went to see, it's still going smoothly."

  "Alright." Yue Weihan nodded and continued, "Pass down the order, have the sniping squad, machine gun squad, and dare-to-die squad take a rest, but the excavation squad cannot rest. Cao Xinglong, tell them that it's better to let them suffer a bit now than to have the whole regiment bleed to death in battle later!"

  …………

  Outside Baoshan City, Pingyuan's command center.

  Hirano Ichiro held the receiver, his body straight as a board, but his head hung down to his chest, and he was responding with repeated "hai"s. The several company commanders and platoon leaders beside him also had their heads bowed, looking serious, and they could clearly hear the angry roar of ōyama Kōsuke coming from the receiver.

  "Click." Hirano Ichiro hung up the phone and suddenly looked up.

  Several platoon leaders and squad leaders also followed suit, with seven or eight pairs of eyes all focusing on Lieutenant Colonel Hirano. At this moment, however, Hirano Ichiro had already lost his usual courteous demeanor, his entire facial muscles even becoming somewhat distorted due to intense anger, and his eyes almost spewing fire.

  The development of the Baoshan battle once again exceeded Hirano's expectations, and the tenacious performance of the National Army was another loud slap in his face. If it weren't for General Takaoki being an old acquaintance, he would have been ordered to commit seppuku by now! But even with their private connections, Takaoki could only give him one more day at most!

  Just as the squad leader and team leader thought Hirano Ichiro was about to explode in anger, Hirano Ichiro suddenly lifted his head, took a deep breath of cold air, and instantly regained his composure.

  Hirano, who had regained his composure, clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in the command center before turning to face several Japanese officers: "The Art of War by Sun Tzu says that if you know yourself and your enemy, you will not be defeated in a hundred battles. You have all received higher education, so I believe you understand the meaning of this sentence. However, it seems we lack sufficient understanding of our opponent inside Baoshan City. Gentlemen Yamaguchi, Kawano, and Matsui, please come and analyze our enemy.

  "Ah, yes." A Japanese platoon leader stepped forward and said, "Sir, these Chinese soldiers are extremely brave and skilled in battle, especially their suicide squads. In hand-to-hand combat with equal forces, the well-trained Imperial Japanese Army is no match for them. Our platoon has twice entered the central district, but both times we were driven out by the Chinese army's suicide squads."

  Another devil captain said, "Apart from the Northeast Army, other Chinese troops can be called brave and good at fighting, especially their Northwestern Army, which once used big knives to heavily injure the Great Japanese Imperial Army at Xifengkou. However, this group of Chinese soldiers in Baoshan City are not just brave and good at fighting!"

  "Kawano said it right, these Indian troops are not only brave and good at fighting, but also extremely cunning!"

  The last devil platoon leader nodded repeatedly, "From my observation, the Shina soldiers inside Baoshan City are clearly divided into three groups. One group hides in concealed fortifications, specializing in shooting our officers and machine gunners, as well as grenade throwers. Another group guards high points, organizing machine gun firepower to suppress Imperial Army actions. The last group is a suicidal squad that often launches suicidal counterattacks at the most critical moments, repeatedly thwarting the Imperial Army! Sir, I think what Lieutenant General Kobayashi said before his seppuku makes sense - the key reason why these Shina soldiers are so cunning and difficult to deal with is their commander!"