Chapter 19: No Retreat (Part 1)

  After sending away Liu Xin and the warriors of the guard squad, only Yue Weihan and several battalion commanders were left in the command center.

  With a piercing gaze, Yue Wei Han surveyed the several rows of comrades and said in a solemn tone: "Brothers, the selfish and weak British will not offend the little devils for our sake. Withdrawing into the public concession and surrendering to the British army is a dead end. However, we also can't hold on at the Sihang Warehouse for too long. At most, we have half a month left before our ammunition runs out. Before that, we must retreat!"

  Cao Xinglong frowned and said, "The camp is surrounded by the little devils on three sides, and their troops are at least a brigade. If we try to break through forcibly, it's likely to be very difficult to succeed. Originally, we could have escaped by swimming across the Suzhou River, but now the water is too cold, and there are also devilish gunboats patrolling and blocking the way, so this route is also impassable."

  Liu Tiezhu suddenly said, "Camp seat, why not break through the public concession? A small group of devils we can't handle, but a hundred or so British devils on the other side of the river are no big deal! As long as you give the order, our guard platoon will charge and kill its way across the bridge. Once we're across, it'll be hard for the little devils to catch up with us."

  "No way, what a stupid idea!" Yue Weihan said coldly. "The hundred or so British devils on the other side of the river are not difficult to deal with, but the international trouble that would be triggered by this is not something we can imagine. If our Baoshan camp really did what you said, then you and I would become sinners of the entire Chinese nation!"

  Yue Weihan's words were not nonsense, for behind the Shanghai International Settlement stood the world's number one power at that time - the British Empire! As for Britain, even the Japanese had some reservations, and to avoid mistakenly bombing the International Settlement, the Japanese military did not dare use heavy artillery or heavy bombs. Given the National Government's current situation, how could they afford to offend Britain?

  "His grandma." Chi Chengfeng scratched his head and said, "Camp seat, then what should we do?"

  "If I were to say, we should break through from the front and from where the little devils least expect it." Yue Weihan said this intentionally pausing for a moment, then continued, "We will break through from the direction of the little devils' command center, but we can't force our way through. The old trick: put on the little devils' military uniforms and disguise ourselves as their soldiers, wait for an opportunity to break through!"

  "Ying Zuo, this is not going to be easy, right?" Cao Xinglong said with some concern. "The little devils have already tricked our Baoshan camp twice? Shouldn't we be more vigilant by now? Besides, where can we quickly get over 200 sets of devil's military uniforms? Although there are many devil soldiers' corpses outside, most of them were blown up and battered, wearing them would easily give us away."

  Yue Weihan nodded and said, "Dalong, your concern is very reasonable, so we must break through from the direction of the little devil's command center, this way the possibility of success will be greater."

  "This is strange," said Niu Dageng curiously, "The little devil's command center is in that direction, and the defenses should be even more severe. How can breaking through from here have a higher chance of success?"

  The rest of the lieutenants also nodded in agreement, apparently none of them quite understood what Yue Weihan meant.

  Yue Weihan, the traitor, smiled and said: "What if the little devils' command post is heavily guarded? To be honest with you, the more troops the little devils deploy in the direction of the command post, the tighter their guard, the more advantageous it will be for us."

  "Yingzuo, you'd better speak quickly, what's going on?" Niu Dageng asked anxiously, scratching his ears.

  "Dig a tunnel!" Yue Weihan said in a condensed voice, "Dig a tunnel to the bottom of the devils' command center, and bury all the thousands of kilograms of explosives left for us by the Japanese, then with just one loud explosion, hehe, the little devils' regimental command center and the surrounding devilish barracks will all go up in flames!"

  "Great idea!" Niu Dageng slapped his thigh heavily and exclaimed excitedly, "I'll take people to dig it up right away."

  "What's the hurry? You big silly black thing!" Yue Weihan laughed and said, "Do you know where the little devil's command center is?"

  "Right, where is the Little Devil Brigade Command Center?" Niu Dagen was slightly stunned, "Battalion Commander, do you know?"

  Yue Weihan smiled slightly and said, "Have you noticed that on the rooftop of the three-story building to our west, two antennas have been installed? Since there are antennas, I think there must be a radio station inside the building. And since there is a radio station, it must be the command center of the Little Devils' brigade. However, that three-story building is at least over 200 meters away from us. To dig a tunnel that long will take more than just three to five days."

  Cao Xinglong said: "The camp and the tunnel are troublesome to dig, but it will take a few more days to dig them out. What about the more than 200 sets of Japanese military uniforms?"

  "As for the devils' military uniform... " Yue Weihan smiled slightly, suddenly turning his head to look at Liu Xin not far away, "This matter will have to fall on Lieutenant Liu Xin's shoulders."

  …………

  Shanghai Western Suburbs, 98th Division Command Post.

  He slammed the pencil in his hand onto the map and said angrily, "Damn it, this battle can't be fought. Once the little devils land at Jinshanwei, they'll head north. If Songjiang falls, our entire rear route will be cut off. At that time, the two routes of little devils will form a siege, and the seventy-odd divisions on the Shanghai front line will all be wrapped up like dumplings!"

  Just a moment ago, the headquarters of the Songhu War Zone reported the battle report to each group army and each division.

  The Cryptography Department of the Military Commission cracked the Japanese army's code again and learned that the Japanese General Headquarters had reorganized the invasion of China into the Central China Front Army, with Isoroku Yamamoto as the commander-in-chief. The troops under its jurisdiction included not only the original Shanghai Expeditionary Force but also the newly added 10th Army, which was composed of the 6th, 8th and 114th Divisions, as well as the Kogawa Detachment (9th Brigade).

  Tomorrow at dawn, the Tenth Army will land in Jinshanwei, north of Hangzhou Bay, while the main force of the National Army has been withdrawn to fight against the Shanghai Expeditionary Force in western Shanghai. Only two regiments of local security troops are stationed in the Jinshanwei area, and more critically, there are no regular troops stationed from Jinshanwei all the way north to Songjiang County!

  Moreover, time is pressing, and it's already impossible to make adjustments and reinforce the Jinshanwei defense line. The nearest main force divisions are hundreds of miles away, and by the time they rush over, the yellow flowers will have already wilted. At that time, not only will reinforcing the Jinshanwei defense line be out of the question, but it might even become a delicacy for the Japanese 10th Army.

  Chief of Staff Huang Mei Wu nodded and sighed, "Yes, the Songhu area is already indefensible. The defeat of the Battle of Shanghai is irreversible. What we should consider now is to preserve our strength as much as possible and wait for another opportunity to fight a decisive battle against the Japanese invaders."

  "But the headquarters ordered us to stay put!" Xia Zhongyu slammed his fist on the table, furious, "Damn it!"

  "Does the Commander-in-Chief still not listen to the Delegate's words?" Huang Mei Wu sneered, "As for the Delegate, humph, he still has illusions about the Western powers. He thinks that as long as the National Army holds on for a few more days in the Shanghai battlefield, it won't be too late to retreat after the League of Nations meeting is over. But he doesn't realize that perhaps these few days of delay will cause the annihilation of nearly 100 million troops from 70 main force divisions!"

  "Damn it, or else we'll also learn from Bao Shan Camp and disobey orders on the battlefield?" Xia Zhongyu said with a bad tone.

  Yue Weihan and Baoshan's disobedience had already spread among high-ranking generals in the Songhu Battle Zone.

  It turned out that this was originally a secret telegram exchange between the delegate and the Baoshan camp, but somehow it was leaked out, resulting in a commotion, including Xia Zhongyu and Huang Meiwu, who did not expect that Yue Weihan, a small camp commander, would dare to disobey the delegate's orders twice!

  "Master, this is different." Huang Mei Wu said with a bitter smile. "The Treasure Mountain Camp's disobedience to orders is that they would rather die in battle than retreat, so the masses can understand them and will even support them without reservation. But if we disobey orders, it would be desertion on the eve of battle. Not only would the masses despise us, but also Master Wei would never let us off."

  "Alas, I'm just saying. Xia Zhongyu sighed and said with emotion, "I wonder how the Bao Shan camp is doing now?"

  Huang Mei Wu said thoughtfully, "I heard that Vice Premier Song of the Executive Yuan has personally gone to the International Settlement to persuade Brother Zhongxiao and the Baoshan Garrison to withdraw. Recently, representatives from various circles in Shanghai have also issued statements urging the soldiers of the Baoshan Garrison to retreat into the concession to preserve their useful lives. I think that both emotionally and rationally, Brother Zhongxiao should also withdraw now."

  Xia Zhongyu frowned and said, "But now the International Settlement has become an isolated island. Even if Zhongxiao and the Baoshan Camp retreat into it, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for them to return to the combat sequence of our 98th Division."

  "Alas." Huang Meiwu sighed, "Retreating into the concession is at least a way to preserve our lives."

  "I hope so." Xia Zhongyu shook his head and sighed, "I hope that Lao Tzu can turn bad luck into good fortune."

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