Chapter 15: The Bloody Battle of Nanjing (5)

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  The 114th Division headquarters was heavily damaged, which made Shōjirō Iida extremely angry. He immediately ordered the 6th and 9th Divisions to join forces with the 114th Division to take the southern part of the city at all costs within one day. On January 12th, the southern part of Nanjing became a hell on earth. The intense battle in this area was later considered by both China and Japan as the "Eastern Verdun". On that day, Liu Zhenfeng didn't know how many Japanese soldiers he had killed, but he remembered his non-stop hacking and slashing with his large knife, which eventually broke. He then switched to a bayonet, which also snapped off soon after. All he could do was grab the Japanese soldiers' Type 38 rifles. His body had several wounds that he didn't even notice when they happened, and blood kept flowing down from them. However, he didn't even have time to bandage himself, only continuing to fight non-stop. Gradually, his physical strength began to wane, but there were still many enemies around him. Every time he raised his gun-wielding hand, it felt like he was exhausting all his energy.

  "With a loud 'clang', Liu Zhenfeng's rifle was knocked out of his hands by a Japanese soldier, and he was also thrown to the ground by a surge of force. The Japanese soldier took advantage of the situation and raised his bayonet to stab Liu Zhenfeng in the abdomen. Liu Zhenfeng quickly dodged to one side, and the Japanese soldier's bayonet stabbed fiercely into the mud. But before he could even catch his breath, a Japanese lieutenant with a samurai sword swung it down towards my head. Liu Zhenfeng used all his might to dodge again, but this time he was completely exhausted and lay powerlessly on the ground. The Japanese lieutenant missed him once, and prepared to strike again at Liu Zhenfeng's waist, intending to cut him in half. Liu Zhenfeng seemed to see the Virgin Mary, saw himself decades later struggling to make a living in Nanjing, and smiled wryly to himself: 'It's finally over... I wonder if I can still return to the 21st century?' Just as he was about to give up his life, suddenly the memories of the photos of Japanese atrocities at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall flashed before his eyes, filling him with rage and indignation. He silently shouted: 'Little universe, explode! God, grant me strength!'"

  "Baka!" Liu Zhenfeng cursed a Japanese national insult, disregarding everything and using both hands to press against the hilt of the Japanese officer's sword. Because he suddenly blurted out a Japanese national insult, the Japanese lieutenant was taken aback, doubting whether the Chinese officer in front of him, who was fighting for his life, was actually Japanese. It was this momentary hesitation that saved Liu Zhenfeng's life. He didn't know where he got the strength from, but with one effort, he snatched the lieutenant's sword and, before the latter could recover, struck him down with a vicious slash, cutting him in two. I spat out a mouthful of saliva and continued to wield the Japanese officer's command sword, desperately hacking away at the Japanese pigs. The sky gradually darkened, but the bloody white-blade battle had yet to end. Liu Zhenfeng himself was almost exhausted, and more seriously, his wounds still hadn't been bandaged in time, with blood still flowing out. At this rate, he wouldn't need the enemy to finish him off; he would bleed to death on his own.

  Collapse, complete collapse! This bloody battle that had been going on for a day caused the Japanese soldiers who used live targets to train to be the first to collapse. Seeing the three divisions of the Japanese army retreating like a tide, Liu Zhenfeng's heart was filled with heroic spirit, and he sang "Man Jiang Hong" by Yue Fei with his last strength on the battlefield. He had only sung a few lines when he felt dizzy and his head spinning, and then he knew nothing more.

  "General! General! General, wake up!" Xu Zhongqiang shouted in Liu Zhenfeng's ear.

  "What's all the commotion about? I'm right in the middle of playing Silent Hill!" Liu Zhenfeng said impatiently.

  "General! Wake up quickly!" Xu Zhongqiang didn't know what Liu Zhenfeng was talking about with that "Silent Hill", thinking he had gone crazy, and suddenly became extremely nervous.

  "Damn it, who are you? I was about to clear the level and that old freak was almost dead at my hands. Which blind fool messed up my good thing?" Liu Zhenfeng got out of bed with a huff, staring at Old Xu with wide eyes.

  "General, you're finally awake!" Xǔ Zhōngqiáng exclaimed excitedly.

  "Huh? Who are you? Oh, Old Xu! Where is this?" Liu Zhenfeng patted his head and said.

  "General, this is headquarters, you've been asleep for three days and three nights." said Xu Zhongqiang.

  "Oh, what! I slept for three days and three nights? What's today's date?" Liu Zhenfeng asked in surprise.

  "Marshal, today is December 15th of the Republic of China's 26th year (January 16th, 1938), it's already nine o'clock in the evening now." said Xu Zhongqiang.

  "My goodness! It's been three days and I've slept for three whole days. What on earth happened during these three days?" Liu Zhenfeng thought in shock.

  "What's the current situation with the city defense?" Liu Zhenfeng asked anxiously.

  "Brothers are still fighting to the death, now even the last reserve troops have been used up! Commander, this afternoon at 5 o'clock, the Military Commission sent a telegram, saying that the Japanese Navy will likely send a fleet to Nanjing tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, completely cutting off our army's northern crossing route. The Military Commission ordered us to withdraw from Nanjing before the day after tomorrow. I heard they are also sending two battleships, one is the Fuso battleship and the other is the Yamashiro battleship. It seems that these two warships are very powerful according to the people from the Military Commission. Hmph, I don't believe it, are they more powerful than the Akagi?"

  "Cut! I strongly despise you!" Liu Zhenfeng looked at Xu Zhongqiang with disdain, "The Izumo is just a Japanese armored cruiser, with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons. Its main guns are four 203mm cannons, 14 150mm cannons, 12 12-pound quick-firing guns, and 8 2.5-pound quick-firing guns. It has a length of 121.92 meters, a width of 20.93 meters, and a draft of 7.37 meters. Its main engine power is 14,500 horsepower, with a speed of 20.75 knots. You might think that this is the strongest Japanese warship you've seen, but in reality, cruisers like this are much weaker than battleships. Take a look at the two battleships they sent this time, the Fuso and Yamashiro. These two battleships are sister ships. Let's start with the Fuso. Its full displacement is 38,536 tons, with a length of 212 meters, a width of 33 meters, and a draft of 9.4 meters. It has eight oil-fired boilers, with a main engine power of 76,000 horsepower; four shafts; a top speed of 24.7 knots; and a range of 11,800 nautical miles at 16 knots. It is equipped with 12 double-barreled 356mm/45 caliber main guns; 14 152mm/50 caliber secondary guns; eight double-barreled 127mm high-angle guns; and 16 double-barreled 25mm high-angle guns. Its armor includes a side belt of up to 305mm, with the front of the turret being 305mm thick, the top of the turret being 150mm thick, and the gun mount being 203mm thick. The deck has a thickness of *mm (with horizontal armor plating on the machine room roof ranging from 51-102mm, and additional armor plating on the sides of the hull ranging from *-76mm to increase anti-torpedo protection). The command tower is up to 350mm thick. The total weight of its armor is 12,199 tons. It can carry nearly 1,400 crew members. And then there's the Yamashiro, which has similar data since it's a sister ship of the Fuso." I rattled off the detailed specs of the Fuso-class battleships in one breath, feeling a bit parched afterwards. I picked up my cup and started chugging down water like crazy. Xu Zhongqiang, on the other hand, was left staring at me with his mouth agape, unable to believe what he had just heard.

  "Worship me! Do you want my autograph or something?" Liu Zhenfeng said with a pleased expression.

  "Jun Ze, you're too amazing. How did you get such detailed data on these two battleships? And if what you said is true, then the firepower of these two battleships is much stronger than that of the Chongyun!" Xu Zhongqiang said.

  "Yes, to ensure that Nanjing city is not completely destroyed, our army must start breaking out tomorrow night! Xu Zhongqiang, immediately gather all company-level and above officers, assemble in the air raid shelter within two hours, I will hold an emergency meeting!" Liu Zhenfeng said solemnly.

  "Yes, Commander!" Xu Zhong immediately went to arrange for all battalion-level and above officers to assemble.

  At this time, the Wuhan headquarters, Chen officer sighed helplessly to his staff: "It seems that the 77th Army will be erased from our National Revolutionary Army's combat sequence. You see, the Japanese army has set up three encirclement circles outside Nanjing, including the newly landed 170,000-strong army, with a total of more than 200,000 troops gathered near Nanjing, forming a huge encirclement circle. Even if the 77th Army can break through the first encirclement circle, they will still face the second and third circles. Moreover, a large-scale fleet has been dispatched to blockade the river from Wuhu to Shanghai. It seems that the Japanese are determined to wipe out the 77th Army this time! Although the 77th Army killed Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan, it brought them a disaster! I hope Liu Zhenfeng and his men will have good luck and break through by chance."

  "Everyone is here, please instruct!" Xu Zhongqiang said to Liu Zhenfeng.

  Liu Zhenfeng nodded, adjusted his uniform, and followed Xu Zhongqiang into the air raid shelter. He first asked Zhang Zizhong: "How many people do we have left now?"

  "The army, including the reorganized troops and newly recruited soldiers, currently has around 67,000 people, with a peak of around 100,000. After this period of bloody fighting, we have lost more than 30,000 people!" Zhang Zizhong sighed.

  "Lost so much?" Liu Zhenfeng asked in shock.

  "Yes, but the devils are not much better off either. During this period of time, their losses, although not fully calculated, are estimated to be around 45,000 people, which is more than 10,000 people compared to us." Zhang Zizhong said.

  "Hmm, but we're killing pigs. Killing pigs would cost us over 300,000 people, that's indeed too many!" Liu Zhenfeng said, stroking his chin in a matter-of-fact manner.

  Zhang Zizhong helplessly rolled his eyes.

  Looking at the dense crowd below, Liu Zhenfeng said with great enthusiasm: "Comrades, first of all, I would like to thank you for your bloody battles over the past month. Due to our bravery, the Japanese army has suffered unprecedented losses. The uncle of the Japanese Emperor, Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, was also killed by our brave soldiers. This can be said to have greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese people and destroyed the prestige of the Japanese militarists. However, our situation is becoming more and more dangerous. More than a dozen days ago, the Japanese Emperor dispatched seven divisions with hundreds of thousands of troops to land in Zhenjiang. They built three layers of encirclement around us, claiming that it was impregnable, attempting to swallow our 77th Army whole. Can we let them succeed?"

  "No!"

  "Let's fight it out!"

  Liu Zhenfeng pressed down with both hands and continued: "So, our military department has decided that tomorrow night we will start the breakout. The specific breakout plan will be communicated to everyone by each regimental cadre before 4 pm tomorrow! What I want to tell you all is that this time, I don't consider the breakout as a defensive battle, but rather as an offensive, attacking the enemy in front of us. Even if only one person is left in the entire army, we will still attack!"

  At that time, those soldiers were all excited, and the 77th Army had never been intimidated by the Japanese, even in extremely unfavorable situations, they always thought of launching a counterattack against the enemy. I found that Li Yunlong's words were still quite useful, and my heart was also extremely excited at that moment.

  "What I want to tell you is that our 77th Army, this wolf-like army, only has soldiers who die in battle, and no soldiers who surrender or become traitors. This breakout will be extremely brutal, if anyone is unwilling, I won't force them, you can also go back and tell your soldiers that those who are unwilling can put down their guns, take off their uniforms, mix with the civilians and evacuate together. However, for those willing to fight alongside us, we must all be prepared to sacrifice ourselves at any moment! Even if we die, we will die on the battlefield!"

  "We are the 77th Army, we were born as men of the 77th Army, and we will die as ghosts of the 77th Army! We take pride in being part of the 77th Army! Our entire regiment guarantees that not a single one of us will take off our uniforms, put down our weapons, and follow the civilians in retreat! The only words in our dictionary are attack, attack, and attack again!" A regimental commander exclaimed.

  "We swear to follow the 77th Army to death!" The people below shouted loudly.

  "Alright! Disperse! Everyone go back and get ready!" Liu Zhenfeng made a dispersing gesture, letting them all go back to mobilize.

  January 16, 1938, in the morning, at the Japanese headquarters, Shanghai Expeditionary Army Commander-in-Chief Matsui Iwane, Chief of Staff Operations Section Watanabe Akira, and Tenth Army Commander Yanagawa Heisuke were planning on a large map of the Nanjing battlefield. Matsui said: "The Chinese should have received news that our Imperial Japanese Navy has dispatched warships to blockade the Yangtze River in Nanjing. I suppose the commander of the 77th Corps will definitely consider breaking out. You tell me, where do you think they will focus their breakout?"

  "General, I believe the Chinese army's breakout will focus on the western front, specifically the Wuxi Gate and Caochang Gate. I suggest deploying heavy troops in this area to completely cut off their escape route." said Colonel Muto Akira, head of operations.

  "Ah, Lieutenant General Mutō's words are indeed correct! In that case, immediately order the 6th Division, 114th Division and 9th Division to assemble on the western front and encircle the enemy!" General Matsui Iwane looked at Lieutenant General Mutō with appreciation.

  On the morning of January 17, 1938, Liu Zhenfeng looked at the enemy's troop deployment and said: "It seems that the Japanese army is relatively weak on the eastern line, with only one regiment (the 68th Regiment) of the Third Division there. We will break through the east gate tonight!"

  "This might be a trap set by the enemy," said Xu Zhongqiang.

  "It makes sense, I've also thought of that. But now, even if we know it's a trap, we have to take the risk! Our plan for today is: the elite AK team of the 109th Division launches a fierce attack on the western front, all heavy weapons are allocated to the AK team, creating the illusion that our army wants to break through the western front. Then, I will lead the 102nd and 109th Divisions and the Military Guard Regiment to break through from the eastern front. You and Deputy Commander Zhang Zizhong will lead the 101st Division and the Temporary Division (composed of about 20,000 soldiers from the original Nanjing garrison) to break through from the Zhonghua Gate and Guanghua Gate line. We will meet at Pool County in southern Anhui Province. The breakout will officially begin at 5 o'clock. We will mobilize the civilians, those who want to leave will be protected by us, but it's every man for himself." Liu Zhenfeng sighed and said.

  At 1:00 pm that day, when the regiment-level and above cadres' meeting was held, Liu Zhenfeng briefed all the regimental commanders on the breakout plan and said to Zhang Zizhong: "Zizhong, this time we part ways, it may be a permanent separation. No matter what changes occur on the eastern front, I will make a desperate attempt. If I sacrifice myself, the 77th Army will be handed over to you. Remember, our 77th Army is an army that never admits defeat, it is an invincible army that points its sword and sweeps away all obstacles. You must take good care of it for me."

  "General Zhang, you'll be fine, the 77th Army can't lose you, or I'll take the eastern route!" said Zhang Zizhong.

  "No room for discussion, execute the order! Also, AK team leader Fu Dongping stays behind." Liu Zhenfeng said firmly.

  Looking at Fu Dongping, Liu Zhenfeng said to him: "The AK team is the most elite unit of our army. Even if the Nanjing city defense battle was fierce, I wouldn't have sent you to the front line. However, this retreat concerns the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of troops, and only your AK team has the ability to hold back a large number of enemy troops. So I chose your team to launch a feint attack on the western line. This afternoon at 5 o'clock sharp, concentrate all your artillery and give me a fierce bombardment of the western line. Use up all the shells, don't leave any for the enemy, and then blow up the cannons. You must hold out until dawn tomorrow, and after that, break through on your own. Remember, I want you all to come back alive!"

  "Don't worry, General! I guarantee completion of the mission!" Fu Dongping gave Liu Zhenfeng a military salute.

  Liu Zhenfeng sighed and looked out at the sky outside, wondering if tonight's breakout would go smoothly.