Chapter 48: Absolutely No Retreat

  Zhao Xiaofeng thought for a moment, then ordered Xu Baozhen: "You immediately notify Wu Delin that the enemy is trying to hold our army's flank and break through in the middle. You must make full use of the Japanese army's weaknesses, and when the enemy enters within 100 meters of the shooting range, use the most intense sweep as the liaison signal for the entire line to launch a counterattack. You also need to notify each unit to pay attention to preserving their own strength and absolutely cannot act rashly!"

  "Yes!" Xu Baozhen responded loudly, and on the front line position, conveyed Commander Zhao's orders to the various generals. Since seeing Zhao Xiaofeng command his own artillery battalion to shoot down eight enemy planes and disable an enemy squadron, he had been deeply impressed by Zhao Xiaofeng.

  The command post of the Guards Regiment under Xing Jiaxing was set up in Yibuqi Village, about one mile north of Daxing Railway Station, at the home of Wu Ziheng. The troops were all housed in the ancient temple at the head of the village. Although the officers and soldiers were eager for action, they absolutely could not expose themselves without the order of Regimental Commander Xu Baozhen.

  The ancient temple was located on the riverbank, and the trenches were hidden in the tobacco fields that had not yet been harvested, like a snake. The Japanese army never dreamed that this company of officers and soldiers would bring them disaster.

  The Japanese army has formed a dense formation to advance towards the defending position. Colonel Xing Jixing discovered in the observation post that the Japanese army was divided into several columns advancing crosswise, and it seemed that they would swallow up the left wing of our army's position. He secretly admired Commander Zhao for being prescient, if they hadn't blocked the enemy here, their own left-wing troops would have suffered greatly.

  Xing Jie Xing gave a low command: "Prepare for battle, pass on my order, no one is allowed to fire a single bullet!"

  The Japanese army hunched their backs and crouched low, advancing while covering each other. Meanwhile, our troops remained calm and composed, with hundreds of gun barrels aimed at the invaders. Death was smiling at them.

  "Fire!" Xing Jie Xing saw the enemy approaching, close enough to almost step on their gun muzzles. He only let out a loud shout then.

  At that moment, light and heavy weapons fired simultaneously, with almost no misfires. The enemy was caught off guard and could not withstand the sudden appearance of heavenly soldiers and generals by their side. They dropped over a hundred corpses and hastily sounded the retreat to flee towards Jiang Bridge.

  Xu Baozhen clearly saw from the telescope and immediately ordered the troops to charge at the enemy. The defending officers and soldiers jumped out of the trenches, charged into the enemy crowd, and launched a fierce battle with bayonets. After a long and intense fight, the enemy could no longer hold on, their morale greatly reduced, and they quickly retreated.

  Unexpectedly, the ambush troops hiding in the reeds on the riverbank charged out, blocking the enemy's retreat route, and attacking from both front and back, causing the Japanese army to be defeated. The remaining enemies fled for their lives, some jumping into the river, others getting stuck in the mud, with flesh and blood flying everywhere. Seeing that the situation was not good, the enemy commander sent another battalion of troops to launch a fierce counterattack under the cover of machine guns.

  Just after crossing the bridge, the left-wing cavalry of Zhang Dingxin's camp in the defending army raised their guns and knives to kill them, and the two armies engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand combat.

  The anti-Japanese army soldiers mixed in the cavalry were armed with two "box guns" each, one shot and one was not dragged down. The Japanese soldiers who had just retreated from the bullets were shot dead by them.

  The bloody battle lasted until dusk, and the Japanese army's offensive momentum was completely suppressed. More than 2,000 Japanese corpses were left on the battlefield, with weapons and equipment scattered all over the place. This time, the Black Army made a fortune.

  The commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Hamamoto, was unable to break through the Chinese army's Jiangqiao position and was furious. The deputy chief of staff, Tanahashi Shin'ichi, shot and killed the deputy regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tanaka Hayashi, but this could not revive the 2,108 Japanese soldiers who had been killed in action.

  Bin Honma was furious at Hayashi Yuzo: "What the hell is going on?! Didn't you say that Ma Zhanshan's troops were weak, their equipment was poor, and the morale of the officers and soldiers was low, with no ability to resist? As soon as our Imperial Army's artillery fired, they would be forced to surrender! But we've been fighting all day and haven't even taken a single position on Ma Zhanshan!"

  Lin Yixiu did not dare to speak, he also felt a little confused. Zhang Haipeng's troops had run away without fighting, how could they withstand several heavy artillery shells? Wasn't Ma Zhanshan's troop also a Chinese troop?

  "What's going on with the enemy artillery positions? Do you know we lost eight planes because of this?" he bellowed again.

  Lin Yixiu immediately reported: "I have witnessed this matter with my own eyes. The Black Army has built some underground fortifications on the left slope, which seems to be all mortars and cannons, mainly aimed at our aircraft."

  "Bah!" Commander Bimbo shouted: "Nonsense! I already know all these things! But where did they get so many mortars, artillery and machine guns?"

  "Ah!……" Lin Yixiu thought for a moment and said cautiously: "Could it be that the Soviet Red Army is supporting them?" In fact, he was shirking his own responsibility, but unexpectedly made the Japanese military thoroughly believe that the Soviets were supporting Ma Zhanshan's army.

  "Bakka!" Commander Hinomoto slapped the table and immediately gave a furious order to Tadokoro Shinichi to organize troops to sneak across tonight, not to take the Daxing position, and not to come back alive.

  As a result of the day's fighting, Japanese casualties were nearly 3,000 while the defenders lost over 1,000.

  Zhao Xiaofeng was well aware that the Japanese army had lost the battle during the day and would not give up easily. Tonight, they would pour in even greater forces to contend with our troops for control of Jiangqiao Daxing Station. Especially after receiving reports from the enemy camp, the enemy was gathering in Heilongjiang Province, with two divisions of the Second Division, led by General Tani and General Amaya, commanding the 304th and 306th brigades, respectively, all arriving at the south bank of Jiangqiao. There were also the Suzuki Brigade, the newly formed Korean Mixed Brigade, the South Manchurian Railway Defense Corps, and the Lushun Artillery Battalion, totaling over 50,000 people. At the same time, the air force was reorganizing its heavy bomber groups to join the battle at Jiangqiao, while the total strength of Heilongjiang Province was only around 40,000 people. The troops deployed in Jiangqiao were only a few thousand, and their weapons were clearly inferior. The upcoming battles would be even more arduous, but fortunately, the Japanese had left behind some equipment for them.

  The phone rang and Zhao Xiaofeng picked up the receiver. It was Xu Baozhen calling: "Commander Zhao! The scouts reported that the enemy is gathering boats, estimating they might make a sneak crossing tonight."

  Zhao Xiaofeng had long known that the enemy would attack from the river, but he knew Xu Baozhen's abilities and immediately ordered the commander of the main force: "Commander Xu, the possibility of the enemy sneaking across is great. They want to shed blood on the river bridge tonight, you are under a lot of pressure, there will be an even bigger fierce battle tonight. Tell your brothers, for the sake of China's parents and relatives, we are fighting for the country's dignity, national dignity, and we must not let the little devils take one step into our position!

  "Yes! Commander, in order to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack, I redeployed the troops and ordered a newly formed machine gun company to ambush in the reeds by the riverbank, attacking before the enemy lands!" He was overjoyed at capturing so much equipment from the enemy for the first time, he now thought Zhao Xiao Feng was an envoy sent by the Buddha himself!

  "Very good! Especially good!" Zhao Xiaofeng was very satisfied with Xu Baozhen's military deployment. "However, tonight is a matter of life and death, first give the brothers a full meal to eat."

  "Understood, Commander."

  Zhao Xiaofeng finished giving orders to the various troops, and the sky had already darkened. After a day of intense fighting, there was no longer any gunfire on the riverbank, and the earth was as silent as death. Occasionally, one or two distant barks of dogs could be heard.

  Now, Ma Zhan Shan in the public office also felt an unprecedented sense of fatigue. He had been guarding the phone all day. He warned himself that he couldn't afford to make a single mistake, as any mistake could lead to complete defeat. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang would not let him off either.

  He sat on the sofa, closed his eyes, and Zhang Xueliang's "Cannot make direct contact with the enemy" telegram flashed before his eyes. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, Northeastern newspapers would carry extra-large headlines such as "Ma Zhanshan leads troops in fierce battle at Jiang Bridge, once again stirring up an anti-Japanese storm".

  What would Zhang Xueliang think? He was very loyal to Shao Yu, and had a special relationship with the two dynasties. In the Jiangqiao War, he spoke out for Zhang Xueliang, and Zhang Xueliang's heart was filled with gratitude towards him. However, Zhang Xueliang was also very loyal to Chiang Kai-shek. After the "9/18" incident, it was rumored that Chiang Kai-shek had given a directive of "non-resistance" to the Northeastern Army, and some warlords wanted to use this material to attack Chiang Kai-shek and overthrow him. Nevertheless, Zhang Xueliang took responsibility for himself, resigned as deputy commander of the army, navy, and air force, and was reassigned as director of the Beiping Garrison Headquarters, rather than letting Chiang Kai-shek suffer the same embarrassment as him.

  Ma Zhanshan respected Zhang Xueliang's sense of justice, but Zhang Xueliang abandoned the people of the three northeastern provinces, allowing the Japanese to advance unimpeded. This made Ma Zhanshan unable to understand. He could die for Zhang Xueliang, but he was unwilling to bear the shame of being blamed for Zhang Xueliang's mistakes. He hoped that Zhang Xueliang would see his own difficulties and turn back to support Ma Zhanshan in resisting Japan, providing him with reinforcements and supplies, so that Ma Zhanshan could confidently drive the Japanese out of the Northeast.

  He thought bitterly: "Support, support my ass! If I don't get any troops or money from Chiang Kai-shek, and Zhang Xueliang doesn't give me a single penny or grain of rice, I can only rely on the morale of the soldiers and the hearts of the people to sustain this bloody battle at Jiang Bridge! That Zhao Xiaofeng is really a talented person!"

  Ma Zhan Shan, as a seasoned military man, knew that this bloody battle was one where the enemy was strong and we were weak, with a disparity of over two times in troop strength. Our main battlefield actually only had Xu Baozhen's guard team, three infantry regiments, Wu Songlin's second brigade of the provincial border defense army, two regiments, a reinforced cavalry company, Zhao Xiaofeng's security team, totaling just over 3,000 people.

  Ma Zhan Shan decided to go to the front line to direct the battle, he immediately let his deputy prepare a jeep, wanting to take advantage of the night to comfort the frontline troops.

  Now, the outcome of the Jiangqiao Battle in Heilongjiang depends on these soldiers. Suddenly, he felt how important these soldiers were to him. The past charges and battles, following Zhang Zuolin to fight in the civil war, using the blood of soldiers to add to his official rank, compared to that time, the fearlessness of death was pale.

  The jeep was running on the bumpy dirt road, and the Japanese searchlight was shining towards the north shore, with the jeep right in its beam. Ma Zhan Shan cursed: "Damn it, just in time to light the way for me."