The First Part of the National Martyr's Lonely City Blood War Chapter 7: Letter from Chongqing

  At 5 o'clock in the morning, the first rays of sunlight had already burst forth on the horizon, and the earth's original coolness was immediately swallowed up by the endless heat!

  30 selected snipers each carried a Czech light machine gun, with a Type 24 Chiang Kai-shek rifle on their backs, and began a day of training around the new city area.

  The old soldiers who were still complaining about not being selected yesterday all shut their mouths, and the Chief of Staff, who was still approachable and amiable to them yesterday, suddenly became a tormenting devil overnight? Compared with those poor sharpshooters, building fortifications is much more comfortable.

  "Run faster! Don't fall behind! The last five won't get any food!" Song Yuanhang, standing on the jeep, waved a whip that he had picked up from who-knows-where.

  In a cloud of dust, Xu Tu'an watched as the troops disappeared at the street corner, and then pushed the stunned 'duty officer' lieutenant beside him: "All are present! The Chief of Staff has ordered that all buildings within 400 meters in the west, south, and north directions of the Central Bank be cleared away, clearing the firing range (the firing range is generally a horizontal 180-degree range on the same axis as the machine gun), and then pile up all the bricks, wood, and tiles outside the bank wall to build a defensive wall against cannon fire.

  "My goodness!" Amidst the cries of bitterness and complaint, gazing at the dense residential houses, the remaining soldiers finally realized that disaster had befallen them.

  A ten-kilometer armed forced march at a rapid pace left the panting snipers almost collapsing to the ground, with a few people already foaming at the mouth.

  "Target two hundred meters, wind direction southwest, wind speed two meters per second, fifty seconds ten rounds rapid fire!" Song Yuanhang's command made the 'snipers' who had almost become a pile of mud struggle to get up, take off the Zhongzheng rifle on their backs, and lie down in front of the target to start aiming and shooting.

  When they formed a line of sight, many people were surprised to find that their target was actually running? And it's an irregular movement?

  Fifty seconds later, Song Yuanhang swung his whip and shouted loudly: "Cease fire!"

  All the soldiers hastily closed their insurance, held up their guns and stood up. Song Yuanhang's face was pale as he held up his watch: "From the order to stop, ten seconds have passed, yet not a single person fired? What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for food? None of you had breakfast!"

  Thirty exhausted soldiers stood with their heads bowed, worried that if they continued to train like this, they would be "killed" by the Chief of Staff before they even got to see the Japanese.

  Song Yuanhang returned to the car and knew he had been a bit too harsh, after all, he was also scolded by his instructor when he was young, it took him five years of hard work to achieve today's skills. He wanted to guide them slowly and impart professional knowledge, but first, time was running out, secondly, many soldiers didn't even recognize a few big characters, teaching them about trajectory, temperature difference, physical projectile theorem would be like playing the piano to a cow.

  It's better to start with the obvious, thinking of this, Song Yuanhang waved his hand at the parked truck and said: "One can of beef for each person, five steamed buns and one catty of milk, half an hour for breakfast, then proceed with morning exercise class."

  The soldiers who had given up hope for breakfast were stunned by the sumptuous breakfast, and the soldiers who were queuing to receive their breakfast suddenly found that the chief of staff was nowhere to be seen.

  Upon inquiry, a logistics officer told them that the Chief of Staff had gone back to headquarters for lunch. Your breakfast was specially approved by the Chief of Staff and the expenses were paid out of his own pocket money.

  Facing such an officer, all the selected garrison troops fell silent, not taking advantage of their allowances or drinking soldiers' blood, and even paying out of their own pockets to supplement their rations? Unprecedented! Following such an officer, even dying on the battlefield would be worth it!

  What is Song, the Chief of Staff, in the eyes of soldiers? The legitimate younger master of the Song family, one of the four major families, with countless domestic and foreign industries, previously selling military supplies was just for a few small change, how could they care about the little money that drank soldier's blood and ate empty salary?

  No one knows that Song Yuanhang is actually a standard hot-blooded patriot at heart, and those despicable things will not be done.

  After breakfast, Song Yuanghai taught everyone his own shooting skills and techniques, including breathing methods, judging wind direction and distance references, and the action essentials for quickly forming a aiming line, camouflage and anti-reconnaissance, pre-setting sniper positions, position transfer and other skills and experiences. The master leads the way, but it's up to each individual to cultivate themselves!

  Song Yuanhang's only requirement was that each person must consume 500 rounds of ammunition every day! This is a very superficial truth, all methods converge to one, 80% of the gods are shot out by bullets, and can only find the feeling in continuous shooting. Now it's hard for those soldiers who are responsible for coordination, they have to hold the target and run back and forth in the trenches every day, almost changing a pair of sneakers a day, half a day changing a batch of people.

  Soon, Song Yuanhang discovered a soldier named Wang Tianyi from Dongguan in training. His thin physique almost got him eliminated during the initial physical training period.

  Song Yuanhang found that Wang Tianyi's shooting posture was not standard! Moreover, he is a left-hander, but his aiming line is abnormally fast, and the firing is particularly decisive. Almost as soon as the gun is fired, after watching Wang Tianyi shoot a row of bullets, Song Yuanhang ordered the soldiers to bring Wang Tianyi's target in front of him.

  Five bullet holes were concentrated in the center of the head target, like a plum blossom! The surprising score stirred up Song Yuanghai's competitive spirit.

  Song Yuanhang stretched out his hand towards Wang Tianyi and said: "Private Second Class, let me take a look at your rifle!"

  Taking over Wang Tianyi's rifle, Song Yuanhang was surprised to find that the rifle's stock had been cut with a knife? Moreover, the sighting device also had marks of being filed, and in the National Army, privately modifying weapons was equivalent to damaging military equipment.

  Song Yuanhang took a row of bullets, quickly pressed into the cartridge chamber, with a "click" sound, pulled the trigger and fired five shots in a row. After that, Song Yuanhang looked at his target, although all the hits were within the 5cm diameter area on the target's head, but compared to Wang Tianyi's plum blossom pattern, it seemed clumsy.

  After reviewing several targets, Song Yuanhang decided to issue the Mauser sniper rifle to the soldiers tomorrow! Let the snipers get familiar with their weapons as soon as possible.

  At the time when Song Yuanhang was wholeheartedly cultivating his sniping skills, Tonggu City had become an impregnable fortress under the joint efforts of all officers and soldiers of the 200th Division. Especially the 131st high ground, which adopted Song Yuanhang's suggestion, had almost been hollowed out with half a mountain, and a trench eight meters wide and five meters deep was dug in front of the position. The slope on the other side of the trench was also cut into a vertical cliff over seven meters high. Countless firepower points coordinated with the trench tunnels to form a three-layer, three-dimensional composite firepower point.

  As news of the Japanese army's advance kept coming, one after another tragic cases made the hearts of the people in Tonggu become restless, and some overseas Chinese who were not originally prepared to retreat also began to pack their things.

  On March 14, Song Yuanghai silently calculated that it was less than a week before leaving the war. After driving out and executing a group of pro-Japanese Burmese armed elements, not a single Burmese person could be seen in the ancient city again. Only then did Song Yuanghai transfer the nine tanks and twenty trucks in his hand to the south of the city for concealment, preparing to respond to the airport at any time. With them, the central bank he defended would truly be impregnable.

  Around lunchtime, Song Yuanhang received a telegram from the Chongqing Foreign Ministry and a large envelope.

  "What could the Ministry of Foreign Affairs want from me?" A bewildered Song Yuanhang opened the telegram, which was sent by his uncle Song Ziwen. The telegram repeatedly mentioned the urgency of the situation in Sichuan and the extreme worry of his aunt and other family members, urging him to return quickly to Chongqing to report for duty! Inside the envelope was also attached a promotion order?

  "Adjust himself to the new 38th Division as Deputy Chief of Staff?" The new 38th Division was a unit that Song Yuanhang was naturally familiar with, its predecessor being the Tax Police Corps, and even now in the expeditionary army, people still often jokingly referred to it as the "Song Family Army"!

  It is undeniable that the commander of the new 38th Division, Lieutenant General Sun Li-ren, was promoted by Soong Tzu-wen and recommended to Chiang Kai-shek. The Soong family had a deep affection for him, and as the former Minister of Finance, Soong Tzu-wen's wealth allowed him to maintain this branch of the military, known as the "Song Family Army", with ample resources. From their weapons to their radios, everything bore the USA logo, and most of the officers were returnees from foreign military academies who had studied abroad, earning them the nickname "bread and milk students". Their ranks were high, and they carried themselves with an air of superiority, making them a unique presence within the National Army. Even Du Yuming, who had once stood guard at the President's funeral, was only a lieutenant general at this time.

  The new 38th division is still in Yunnan at this moment, far away from the battlefield! It seems that the Song family still has a high regard for themselves!

  Song Yuanhang couldn't help but smile bitterly, casually throwing the appointment into the room and ignoring it, instead wholeheartedly devoting himself to training.

  In the evening, Song Yuanhang, who had been tired all day, received a special invitation. The boss of Fengyu Xuan, Ouyang Xinwen, wanted to invite him to a banquet? This uninvited event was naturally not of interest to Song Yuanhang. In his opinion, Ouyang Xinwen was completely a femme fatale, with every move and gesture exuding a charm that could tempt one's soul. Believing himself to have weak resistance, Song Yuanhang could only raise the white flag of surrender.

  After being rejected by Tong Gu, Ouyang Xunwen's expression on her face was unpredictable. Ouyang Xunwen was originally named Ueda Sakura, and her family had a profound influence in the Shikoku region of Japan. Since childhood, Ueda Sakura has been influenced by her father and brothers, and she is determined to work hard for the realization of the East Asian Prosperity and Harmony.

  At the age of 20, Ueda Sakiko graduated from Tokyo School of Foreign Service with excellent results and was assigned to Intelligence Division Five, also known as "Kikka Agency", which had been active in Washington and successfully stole a large amount of important intelligence related to American military industry. As the General Headquarters confirmed its strategy for advancing southward, the value of "Kikka Agency" rose sharply within the Intelligence Bureau, threatening to surpass that of "Kemono Agency", which had been secretly operating in China for many years.

  One year ago, Uemura Sakura, who had been transferred to the Intelligence Section 3 'Plum Agency' as deputy director, assumed the alias Ouyang Xinyu and opened a Chinese-style restaurant in the strategic location of Sagaing, Myanmar under the guise of an overseas Chinese.

  The intelligence network established by the Burmese in the ancient city was completely destroyed due to the Kempeitai's expulsion of locals. The deployment and fortifications of the 200th Division had been largely scouted out with the help of several days' labor, but the new city district guarded by the Kempeitai was impenetrable!

  Ueda Sakura knew she couldn't wait any longer, as the Chinese in the city had almost all withdrawn, and if she stayed on, she would likely arouse suspicion.

  Looking at her assistant, Asada Miwako, who had been following her for over three years, although her determination hadn't changed, the long years of espionage career had made her feel tired, or it could be said that she was fed up with this hypocritical life, until Song Yuanhang appeared in her line of sight.

  Unbridled freedom, pure and transparent, warm like sunshine, especially the jokes that make people laugh to tears. Ueta Sakura never thought someone could be so humorous and have such a diverse personality? This is completely different from the people she has met before, this is her first impression and evaluation of Song Yuanhang. But today, Song Yuanhang actually rejected her invitation? Making her regretful and even more unwilling, she even hopes that Song Yuanhang is Japanese, how great would that be!

  Ueda Sakura hesitated for the first time? Was it emptiness? But soon she comforted herself, Song's was just a minor official with little power, not some extraordinary young master, and treating him as an opponent was somewhat laughable.

  She made a bold decision, using Song's weakness as a breakthrough, and even decided to use her charm to seduce him, in order to figure out the deployment of troops in the Guxin City District.

  Taking the adjustment division of the National Army as an example, the personnel composition of its command organ is composed of division commander, deputy division commander, chief of staff, infantry commander, director of political department, and deputy division commander. The infantry commander is often concurrently held by the commander of the main force regiment.