Chapter 8: Ordered to Reinforce

  The damned reveille sounded again, and the class leaders jumped up, shouting and kicking their classmates awake with their feet. Many soldiers had only fallen asleep at dawn, but they didn't sleep for long before they had to get up again, one by one being kicked awake by the class leaders, their eyes all red.

  Feng Ping arrived at the playground around this time, wearing a crisp military uniform that made him look spirited. The company commanders were directing each platoon to reorganize some of the incomplete classes, and classes as neat as Hu Weiyue's were rarely seen.

  Attention, at ease, forward march, stand at attention. The dry movements, the tedious drills repeated over and over again, while eroding people's laxity, slowly establish mechanical obedience.

  You Fei felt uncomfortable all over, as if he was being tied up and suffocated, but he had no choice but to endure it bitterly. In his heart, he shouted that one day he would become an officer and no longer be a fool who practiced drills stupidly.

  After the morning exercise, the actual shooting in the afternoon, what made You Fei feel most excited was the moment he pulled the trigger, the bullet flew towards the target with infinite promise, and he felt refreshed all over.

  Like this, the new recruits of the 137th Regiment trained for nine days, and in a short period of time, they transformed from a chaotic group of over two thousand people into a somewhat regular army. Although they had taken on some form, if such a team were to be sent to the front lines, it's unlikely that any commander would have enough confidence. Feng Ping was also thinking this way, hoping to receive their mission as soon as possible, because after all, their time for rest and reorganization was limited. If the military department didn't assign them a task, once they finished handing over their ammunition, they would have to return to Guangdong with their tails between their legs. However, he also hoped that time could come a bit later, after all, the entire regiment except for the guard company were troops with extremely low combat effectiveness. He was somewhat resentful about why he couldn't be given a truly powerful team, so that he could throw caution to the wind and engage in a bloody battle with the enemy, rather than being as humiliated as they were now.

  In the nine-day training, You Fei felt that apart from feeling too restricted, he didn't feel any other discomfort. He held onto his standard-issue rifle day and night, never leaving it for a moment. Every time he caressed the gun body, his sense of familiarity with the gun deepened. Hu Wei Yue had once told him that on the battlefield, the gun is one's first life; as long as the gun is intact, one's life is secure, but if the gun is destroyed, one's life is forfeit. Since it was a matter of his own life and death, how could he not be meticulous about it?

  At 8:14 on the 20th, a military telegram was received by Feng Ping, "Telegram ordered the 137th Regiment of the 11th Division of the Guangdong Fourth Route Army to suspend its return to Guangdong and rush to Wusongkou to support the 87th Division of the Fifth Route Army." After reading the contents of the telegram with trembling hands, Feng Ping shouted loudly: "Someone come, order the whole regiment to assemble urgently, go to the front line to kill the devils!"

  The 137th Regiment set off from Wuhan by boat at 10:00 on the 20th and arrived in Nanjing at 11:00 on the 21st. As soon as they disembarked, they boarded cars dispatched by the Ministry of the Army and were rushed to Suzhou, arriving in four hours. After a two-hour rest, the troops set off for Taicang via Kunshan at 17:00, covering over 80 kilometers from Suzhou to Landu Town, Taicang, in less than six hours, finally arriving in Taicang.

  From here, it's less than 8 kilometers to the Wusong position. The night is deep and the cold wind is rising. The officers and soldiers of the 137th regiment are in a complex mood, with the leaders being excitedly inexplicable, while the soldiers are uneasy and their feet are soft. A communications officer from the 87th division who came to lead the way was standing beside Feng Ping. The communications officer's clothes were wrinkled and his face was black like it had been painted with charcoal. Feng Ping asked a servant soldier to give the communications officer a drink of water, and after drinking the water, the communications officer handed the canteen back to the servant soldier, wiped his mouth and said: "Report to the superior, on the 20th at 6 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese ships that arrived at the Huangpu River mouth transported a batch of reinforcements, who landed and launched an attack on our Wusongkou and Jiangwan positions. The devil's warship cannon fire was intense and bombarded our position fiercely, then went crazy and launched wave after wave of attacks on our position. My 87th division suffered heavy losses!"

  Feng Ping furrowed his brow and hastily asked: "Have the reinforcements from other routes arrived?"

  "Commander, your unit is the first to arrive and support us. Please, Commander, hurry up and let the brothers of the 137th Regiment enter the position. The devils are fierce! The trenches are filled with the bodies of our brothers, and the ditches are all bloody water. Our regiment is almost wiped out!" The communications officer choked back tears.

  Feng Ping patted the communicator's shoulder, his hoarse voice piercing the quiet sky: "All brothers of the whole regiment, the brothers of the 87th Division are waiting for us ahead, let's move quickly and advance in a small run."

  "You officials have cars to ride in, but we low-ranking clerks have worn out three inches of sole leather on our feet, and yet you still shout at us to hurry up, can't even let people live!" He Tianhao muttered under his breath.

  Yóu Fēi's teeth chattered with a "ka-ching" sound, and his feet were probably already bruised and bloody. Every step forward felt like being stabbed by needles. "Little devils, all little devils are to blame! Damn your grandfather, you little devils! If it weren't for you, my old man would still be living a good life at home!" Recently accumulated fatigue and frustration led Yóu Fēi to direct his anger towards the Japanese devils, and he had already determined that they were the main culprits responsible for turning him into a soldier.

  Another part that made Yu Fei feel painful was his shoulders, the weight of the rifle on his shoulders, the long-term pressure made his collarbone sore and aching, every minute he had to switch shoulders to support the rifle, it was really too tiring, he hated to just fall forward, so he wouldn't have to move forward anymore.

  You Fei turned his head to look at those few brothers of his, apart from the fat guy Jiang Zhuang and the roughneck Xu Zhiwei who looked spirited and robust, the other three all had a listless air about them, as if they were on their last gasp.

  The sound of cannons rumbled, the sound of guns crackled, and people's blood slowly boiled. When the 137th Regiment saw the bodies and trenches, they knew they had arrived at the front line.

  You Fei could no longer hear Feng Ping's hoarse command at this time, he only felt his heart beating particularly hard, his whole body was slightly trembling, and in a daze, he heard Hu Weiyue shouting: "Brothers of the first class, get down to the communication trench and defend the 19th position in the northeast corner."

  A group of people followed Hu Weiyue and jumped down into the traffic trench. The half-meter-deep ditch was muddy and slippery, and within three steps, there were bodies of soldiers from the 87th Division lying in the ditch. At first, everyone avoided the corpses as they walked, but later on, they all trampled over the dead soldiers' bodies to move forward.

  Finally, Hu Weiyue stopped, and the so-called 19th position was just a circular trench with a diameter of only six meters. The trench was filled with corpses, and only one soldier without his shirt was still alive. In the darkness, he could be seen faintly holding a Czech light machine gun, his sharp eyes staring forward like an eagle, and his whole body was as still as a sculpture.

  "Hurry up and clear the trenches," Hu Weiyue shouted, "and move the bodies of our brothers from the 87th Division!" As soon as he finished speaking, everyone quickly set to work clearing away the bodies that had not been removed in time, making some space.

  After moving, You Fei walked to the machine gunner with interest and patted the man's shoulder: "How should I address my brother? I am You Fei of the 137th Regiment." The man slowly turned his head and replied coldly: "Ding Rui!" The tone was sharp and decisive, revealing the unique arrogance of the Central Army, which made You Fei grit his teeth.

  "Idiot!" Yu Fei cursed silently in his heart. On the surface, he smiled and said: "So it's Brother Ding Bing, nice to meet you." Ding Bing gave Yu Fei a cold glance, but didn't say anything.

  "You useless thing, what are you muttering about? Shut up!" Hu Weiyue bellowed again.

  You Fei sullenly put the gun in his hand into his bosom, his exhausted body shifted a few times before finally changing to a more comfortable posture, and he was soon overcome with drowsiness and began snoring.

  "Big brother, big brother! Listen, it seems like someone is shouting up ahead!" Jiang Zhuang exerted himself to push You Fei forward.

  You Fei, who had been awakened by Jiang Zhuang, was furious and slapped him on the back of his head. Just as he was about to scold Jiang Zhuang, he was suddenly stunned by a desperate cry for help: "Platoon leader! Squad leader, save me..." The sporadic gunfire had stopped, and in the silent night sky, such a mournful cry for help made one's heart ache even more.

  "You officials are all going to die! Are you just going to stand by and watch your own brothers suffer in front of you?"

  "Those men were wounded soldiers who hadn't been evacuated from the front line three hours ago, and with the sky so dark at night, no one could go get them back, all we can do is leave them there, sigh!" Ding sighed heavily.

  Although he knew that Ding Cong's words were true, You Fei was still indignant in his heart. He snorted heavily and said: "Superiors who abandon their own brothers and escape safely are all beasts, damn it, they should be fed to the guns."

  Hu Weiyue had long been accustomed to You Fei's wild and arrogant behavior, so he pretended not to have heard. However, Ding Ling was deeply moved by You Fei's words, gazing at him intently.

  Just as the flying was anxious and annoyed, with a few gunshots, the wailing stopped abruptly, and everything returned to normal again. Everyone could guess that those fallen brothers had given themselves a shot. Dying under one's own gun is humiliating and helpless, but at least they can bid farewell to the endless pain and torture.

  A faint sigh came from He Wei Yue in the darkness, two lines of hot tears gushing out from Jiang Zhuang's eye sockets, he bit his lip tightly to prevent himself from making a whimpering sound. The others were quietly silent, You Fei clenched his fists and rubbed the Zhongzheng rifle in his hands, his steel teeth locked in anger with his eyes wide open, an inexplicable flame of anger burning fiercely in his heart. Xu Zhi Wei picked up the large chopping knife beside him and began to sharpen it against a rough stone he had randomly picked up, the sound of the knife being sharpened echoing through the night sky, lingering in the hearts of the soldiers.

  Feng Ping supplemented his troops on the battlefield and then followed someone to the command post of the 259th Brigade.

  It was called the command post, but in fact it was just a two-meter-deep pit dug behind a large tree, with no tiles to cover its head. In order to avoid exposure, the oil lamp was wrapped in several layers of paper, only revealing a very weak light. A major general was staring at the battlefield map on the table with his eyes fixed, he was Yi Anhua, the commander of the 259th brigade of the 87th division.

  Yi Anhua withdrew his gaze and put down the oil lamp, saying loudly: "This must be Brother Feng Ping of the 137th Regiment. We are truly grateful for your timely support!" Yi Anhua quickly walked up to Feng Ping, and the two men's hands clasped together firmly.

  By the faint light, Feng Ping could see that Yi Anhua had a handsome face like a sharp knife. Feng Ping secretly thought that the rumor that the central army generals were all dignified and majestic was indeed true. "Since we are brothers, there is no need to be polite." Feng Ping said with a smile.

  Yi An burst out laughing, feeling that the two men's personalities were compatible, and no longer being polite, pulled Feng Ping to the edge of the map to discuss tomorrow's defense. Under the starry sky, the two young Chinese military men carefully studied, with the responsibility of defending their homeland on their shoulders, bearing the lives and deaths of millions of people in Shanghai, how could they dare to be even slightly slack?

  At the same time, the Japanese army's main attack on the 259th Brigade's defensive position was carried out by the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army's Seventh Group Army. The command post of the 9th Regiment was set up in a military tent, and inside it was as bright as daylight. In front of a map hanging high on the wall, the commander of the 9th Regiment, Nagase Jiro, grasped his sword tightly, his face filled with anger as he stared at a small point marked with a large red cross - the defensive position of the 259th Brigade that he was determined to eliminate.

  Behind Nagase Jiro stood a young staff officer, Ozawa Takeo, a lieutenant colonel who was only twenty-five years old. Ozawa graduated from the East Asian Military Strategy Department of Tokyo Imperial University and rose to the position of lieutenant colonel in just three years after joining the army. Sakamoto Taro, who had no background, was cautious and shrewd in his work. He made great contributions in the battle against the Northeast Guerrilla Army and was recognized by the military as a talented general.

  "General Wu Ping, Lieutenant General Sakamoto Shun has given the order to annihilate the 259th Brigade at all costs. We must eliminate them as quickly as possible so that the army group can smoothly advance towards Shanghai. What do you think we should do tomorrow?" Chousuke Nagase said in a low voice.

  "Hey, the orders of respected Lieutenant General Sakamoto Jun are to be carried out unconditionally. As the elite troops of the Great Japanese Empire, we have an absolute advantage over the low-combat-effectiveness Chinese army. At present, the Chinese army's morale is still high, they are waiting for us like mad dogs eager to find someone to fight with. The best way now is to cut off their reinforcements and bombard their positions with artillery fire. The 259th Brigade of the Chinese army will definitely lose its morale, and then our brigade can easily wipe out the 259th Brigade."

  "Hah! Dealing with the weak Chinese army doesn't require such a waste of energy, just fiercely attack and those East Asian sick men will be dead! To crush their morale, there are plenty of ways, aren't we still holding over a thousand prisoners? Tomorrow morning, drive them to the front lines, these thousand Chinese prisoners will be the best shields in the world!" Nagase Jiro let out a loud, sinister laugh.

  Ozawa Tadahiro furrowed his brow and said in a low voice, "Colonel, those prisoners are all civilians. Is this not damaging to the honor of the Imperial Japanese warrior?"

  "Takeo Kun, you're so obstinate! What we want is victory, and occupying China's territory is the greatest honor for us soldiers of the Great Japanese Empire, it's the highest way to devote ourselves to His Majesty the Emperor. Those one thousand Chinese people, if they can contribute to our great empire's occupation of China, that's infinite merit, remember that! Don't be softhearted, softheartedness is a poison for soldiers!" Lieutenant Colonel Nagase scolded Takeo Kun loudly.

  Although he disagreed with Nagase Takehiro's words in his heart, Sawazaki Takehiro still loudly responded: "Hey, Taisho-sama!"

  Nagase Jiro nodded in satisfaction, his eyes gleaming with a cold light through the bloodshot whites. In his mind's eye, he was already envisioning the scene of the Great Japanese Empire occupying Shanghai. As he thought about it, his whole body began to tremble with excitement.