The First Sacrifice of the Lonely City: Blood War Chapter 29: Rainy Night Surprise Attack (Part 1)

  On April 5th in the early morning, the gloomy sky seemed to be on the verge of collapse at any moment, with madly swirling dark clouds accompanied by fierce winds sweeping wildly.

  The latest directive from Headquarters made both Watanabe Masao and Takeuchi Hiroshi breathe a sigh of relief, but they soon became anxious again! Because the General Staff had given them an impossible task in their view.

  Due to the tenacious resistance of the 200th Division of Chongqing Army, high-ranking operations staff at the Imperial Japanese Army General Headquarters in their home country quickly adjusted the deployment and purpose of the campaign.

  The objective of the campaign was changed from annihilating the 200th Division to defeating the New 22nd and 96th Divisions, and instead surrounding but not annihilating the remnants of the 200th Division at Sagaing, attracting more Chinese troops to rescue them, drawing Chinese and Allied forces to the Mandalay-Meiktila-Nyaungu line, and then finding an opportunity to capture Meiktila and Bhamo, completing a strategic encirclement of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and thoroughly annihilating this force composed entirely of elite troops from Chongqing.

  The purpose of this bold and daring plan was to capture the entire Chinese Expeditionary Force at one stroke, and such an audacious plan was soon submitted directly to the Emperor by Lieutenant General Teshima Hiroshi, a radical young officer.

  Anyone with a little military knowledge knows that light infantry lacks the firepower and means to attack fortifications, and to cross hundreds of kilometers of virgin forest, wandering between the gaps of the Chinese expeditionary army's 100,000-strong army, once the infiltrating troops are exposed, they will inevitably face the absolute superiority of the Chinese army's two-sided encirclement.

  However, being able to annihilate the 100,000-strong elite army of the Chongqing government in one fell swoop is undoubtedly a shortcut to solving China's problems. The excited and frenzied Emperor Hirohito approved this task that relied on luck, and even gave this crazy plan a domineering name - "Operation Tenkō"!

  To boost the morale of the frontline commanders, Hirohito showered medals on troops at the forefront in Burma and then pulled out the battered 56th Division from China to join the Burma expeditionary forces after reorganization.

  The Japanese Sixth Division has been in a very precarious situation on the Chinese battlefield since the 'Nanjing Incident'. Almost all Chinese troops, regardless of faction or region, would fight to the death against the Sixth Division, with a desperate and determined attitude.

  Several times, when other Japanese troops requested tactical guidance, they found out that the reinforcements sent were from the Sixth Division and hastily sent telegrams to refuse the reinforcements. It was clear to everyone that once the Sixth Division joined their combat zone, the Chinese army would swarm in like sharks smelling blood, and even a small town with no strategic value could trigger an unprecedentedly brutal battle.

  In the Second Battle of Changsha in 1941, the Sixth Division's retreat was a tragic one. Pursued and attacked by three Chinese armies, they were repeatedly beaten and suffered heavy casualties. Despite repeated reinforcements, the Sixth Division continued to suffer huge losses.

  Helpless, Emperor Hirohito had to transfer the embarrassing 6th Division to the Burmese battlefield for continued troop reinforcements, to implement the "Tenkō Plan". Far away in Tokyo, the Japanese emperor did not know that this move would put the 6th Division in an irretrievable situation.

  Due to Tong Gu's persistence, history once again quietly deviated from the familiar trajectory of Song Yuanhang. At this time, Song Yuanhang still did not know about these unexpected changes and was wholeheartedly preparing for tonight's surprise attack.

  At noon, a regiment of the New 22nd Division took advantage of the Japanese defense's mistake and successfully crossed the Japanese line with a radio station. After contacting the regiment, Song Yuanhang negotiated with them on the specific crossing point and reception time.

  In the late afternoon, a torrential rain that had been brewing all day swept across the land with thunder and lightning, accompanied by 7 or 8 level winds that made the heavy rain hit people's faces so hard it hurt, making everything within two meters in front of me a blur.

  Song Yuanghai braved the rain to first inspect the two M3 tanks hidden in the bunker at the back of the courtyard, and then 300 selected members of the Hurry-up-and-die Corps changed into Japanese military uniforms obtained by taking advantage of collecting corpses.

  Song Yun-hang sent his last telegram to the New Fifth Army and Chongqing before breaking through: Since taking over the defense of Tonggu, we have faced fierce attacks from the Japanese army's heavy artillery, tanks, aircraft, and human waves, but our position remains unchanged. After more than ten days of bloody battles, although part of Tonggu City is still under our control, my department has exhausted its ammunition and supplies, with no hope of reinforcements, leaving only over 2,000 lightly and heavily wounded soldiers. To preserve the anti-Japanese forces, following the order from above, we will conduct a breakout operation, and the Expeditionary Army will launch a western attack! As revolutionary soldiers, we have always believed that as long as I exist, there is no enemy; at this critical moment of national survival, if I live, the country will perish, but if I die, the country will survive. My department has decided to organize a dare-to-die corps to raid the Japanese command system, together with the breakout troops, and we have made up our minds that if we are not successful, we will sacrifice ourselves. We vow to fight the enemy until the last man and bullet, wishing victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, long live the Expeditionary Army! Long live the National Revolutionary Army! Long live the Chinese nation!

  The departure ceremony of the dare-to-die corps was very simple, with Song Yuanhang's face calm and composed. Cui Zhijun picked up a bowl of rainwater and handed it to Song Yuanhang, gazing into his eyes, and after a while said: "I hope we can use wine to celebrate our victory in the war of resistance next time!"

  Song Yuanhang took over the big bowl and smiled slightly: "I believe that day is no longer far away!"

  "Depart!" Song Yuanhang waved his hand, and the 300 dare-to-die team members immediately formed two columns and disappeared into the raging storm.

  Cui Zhijun's eyes gazed out at the troops disappearing in the rain, and with a solemn expression, he raised his right hand and gave a military salute!

  Cui Zhijun and Xu Tu'an then organized the remaining troops to transport the wounded. Their plan was simple, using two wooden boats to set up several suspension bridges on a 30-meter-wide river surface, and then use the suspension bridges to transfer the lightly and severely wounded to the opposite bank.

  Although there were responding troops on the other shore, a crucial point of this breakout plan was whether the dare-to-die corps led by Song Yuanhang could successfully raid the Japanese command system, rendering them unable to continue their pursuit.

  The torrential rain and strong wind caught the Japanese army off guard, and the trenches they had dug were filled with water. Except for the officers who still had tents to take shelter in, the other soldiers and junior officers could only go around looking for ruins to hide in. Due to the poor visibility, most of the sentries also hid themselves. Would anyone still be checking posts in such terrible weather?

  Wearing a Japanese army uniform, Song Yuanhang occasionally shivered with cold, the icy rain making his wound very uncomfortable. After crossing the second line of defense of the Japanese army, and successfully getting rid of several Japanese patrols, Song Yuanhang began to lead his team in a big way, appearing on the main street of Dongcheng.

  Kazuo Fūjin, a corporal belonging to the Shida Regiment, had to get up from his bed made of straw and go on patrol after cursing the damned platoon leader. Although he was wearing a raincoat, the torrential rain almost penetrated every pore, with large amounts of water flowing down his face, and soon the clothes inside the raincoat were soaked through. The cold, sticky feeling made Kazuo Fūjin very uncomfortable.

  A man on the windy island turned around twice for the sentry post but didn't see the shadow of a sentry, so he shouted loudly several times, unfortunately his voice had just come out and was blown away by the strong wind.

  Just as he was about to catch his breath, a man from Fengdao vaguely saw someone walking towards him from the opposite side. As the distance got closer and closer, the man from Fengdao found that it was actually a team of people walking towards him.

  Maintaining a high state of vigilance, the man on Wind Island unconsciously lifted his raincoat and placed his hand on the gun at his waist!