October 29, 1937, Shanghai, by the Suzhou Creek:

This incident originated from a statement issued by Tomaji Haji, commander of the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force.

The battle that attracted worldwide attention did not end in the three hours he had anticipated.

However, the overwhelming victory he expected did indeed occur.

It's just that the protagonist who won the victory was not Tomaji Haji's Shanghai Naval Landing Force.

It was the 542nd Regiment stationed at Sihang Warehouse.

Among the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force led by Tomaji Haji, six thousand soldiers returned to the embrace of Amaterasu Omikami forever.

The remaining two thousand soldiers could no longer muster the fighting spirit.

On this day, reporters from all over the world saw an indelible scene: two tanks and dozens of Chinese soldiers chasing and killing thousands of Japanese soldiers.

On this day, the world's focus was here.

What surprised everyone was that the 542nd Regiment stationed at Sihang Warehouse could have taken advantage of the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force's defeat to withdraw from Sihang Warehouse.

To withdraw from the urban area of Shanghai.

But they did not withdraw, and instead returned to Sihang Warehouse.

Then, they continued to rebuild the outer fortifications of Sihang Warehouse, which had already been blown up twice.

The tank stuck on the north wall was also dragged out by the soldiers.

A slightly protruding fortress was built on the spot to defend the north wall of Sihang Warehouse.

The last tank in the attacking team on the rear, which had its tracks broken, was also re-tracked and driven back to Sihang Warehouse.

The remaining tanks were ordered by Lin Fan to be loaded with explosives and completely destroyed.

Lin Fan's original words were: "Don't let the Japanese find a single usable part from these tanks!"

On this day, the entire city of Shanghai was in jubilation, and the sound of firecrackers on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek lasted from the afternoon until the evening.

Around 4:00 p.m., a large group of people were busy setting up a stage on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek, directly opposite Sihang Warehouse.

Lin Fan watched the busyness of those people across the creek, wondering what they were doing.

Wu Xiaobao cleverly said, "Company Commander! They are setting up a stage for a play.

When I was at home, I saw Wang Baochang celebrating his father's eightieth birthday and inviting a theatrical troupe.

That's how they set up the stage."

It turned out that someone was going to perform a play across the creek for the officers and soldiers of Sihang Warehouse.

In the battle this morning, the Third Company suffered heavy casualties, with sixty-seven casualties out of the entire company of one hundred and thirty-seven men.

They were no longer able to defend the outer fortifications of Sihang Warehouse.

The machine gun company originally had only thirty-nine men, and thirteen were killed or wounded today.

Xie Jinyuan arranged for the Special Operations Company to guard the defense line.

Lin Fan led the Special Operations Company, with half of the soldiers joining the soldiers of the 542nd Regiment in repairing the fortifications and bunkers.

With the experience of these days, the construction of the fortifications and bunkers this time was more reasonable and scientific than before.

Each fortification and bunker provided cover for each other.

Each bunker had at least two or more firing points on its side to provide support.

This design would prevent the Japanese demolition team from hiding in blind spots when they rushed up, making it impossible to attack them.

Even if the Japanese directly exchanged their lives to blow up the bunker, they could be stopped before they rushed to the bunker.

According to Lin Fan's original design, this interception was to be carried out by the soldiers on the roof of Sihang Warehouse.

In reality, Lin Fan overestimated the quality of these soldiers and their marksmanship.

Through the battles of the past few days, he realized that not only were the soldiers of this Special Operations Company he had temporarily put together terrible shots, but the regular soldiers of the 542nd Regiment were just as bad.

Everyone was just fifty steps away from a hundred steps.

This made Lin Fan's original plan for immediate defense completely ineffective.

The soldiers on the roof could only provide long-range fire suppression against the attacking Japanese.

It was impossible to get them to let the Japanese get closer for precision strikes.

This also made Lin Fan deeply understand that everything must proceed from reality, from the actual situation.

No matter how good the plan, it must be grounded.

His plans were all based on ordinary soldiers of later generations.

Not to mention that in his Special Forces in later generations, the number of live ammunition fired by each soldier was unlimited.

Even in ordinary field troops, each soldier fires thousands of rounds of live ammunition every year.

In the past few days, he had learned that none of these soldiers had fired more than a hundred rounds of ammunition before the war.

Some people had never fired a single live round and only learned to shoot after going to the battlefield.

Such soldiers were completely new recruits.

Therefore, Lin Fan changed the construction of the fortifications a little bit today.

Regarding the construction of these fortifications, the 542nd Regiment, from the regimental commander to the soldiers, all worked hard and offered no opinions.

In their eyes, the fortifications designed by Lin Fan were already the best.

If they weren't good, they wouldn't have killed more than eight thousand Japanese soldiers with less than one hundred and fifty casualties in these days.

All the officers and soldiers knew in their hearts that half of the credit for annihilating eight thousand Japanese soldiers should be attributed to Lin Fan.

It's just that Lin Fan and his Special Operations Company soldiers were too low-key, and they had never shown their faces in the reporters' interviews these days.

Now, the entire country has reports on the eight hundred heroes of Sihang Warehouse.

But not a single word mentioned Lin Fan and the Special Operations Company.

The names of the company-level and above officers stationed at Sihang Warehouse have become household names in these days.

Lin Fan, the company commander with the greatest功劳(gonglao, merit), is still unknown!

This is exactly what Lin Fan is pursuing!

The best fighter is nameless!

The Special Operations Company took over the defense of the outer fortifications, and half of the soldiers began to wipe their weapons. According to Lin Fan's requirements, everyone had to keep their weapons in good condition at all times.

These soldiers didn't even bother to repair the fortifications, but instead maintained their weapons first.

After the big battle in the morning, everyone's weapons were full of gunpowder residue, which had to be wiped off.

It's just that everyone was working hard to repair the outer fortifications, and the Special Operations Company could not stand idly by.

Therefore, Lin Fan only sent half of the soldiers to repair the fortifications, and half of the soldiers to guard and wipe their weapons.

After their weapons were properly maintained, they replaced the other half of the soldiers.

The busy day of the 29th passed.

At 8:00 p.m., the stage across the creek was brightly lit, and good plays were performed one after another.

It was indeed a special performance for the 542nd Regiment.

With Xie Jinyuan's permission, the soldiers of the 542nd Regiment all ran to the riverbank to watch the play.

Lin Fan had no choice but to order the soldiers of the Special Operations Company to extend the guard position by five hundred meters.

He was afraid that the Japanese would take advantage of the night to attack.

In fact, Lin Fan was overthinking it!

Since the defeat of the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force, the Japanese have been unwilling to send troops to attack the Chinese soldiers at Sihang Warehouse.

They decided to solve it by political means.

This night was not peaceful!

The next morning, everyone by the Suzhou Creek was awakened by a sharp shout of "Kill!"

Day broke, and the training of the Special Operations Company began again!

Yesterday's assassination on the ground floor of Sihang Warehouse was advantageous to the soldiers of the Special Operations Company.

When a small team of three men faced a single Japanese soldier, they could often stab the Japanese soldier down in just one round.

When facing three Japanese soldiers, it only took two more rounds.

Having tasted the sweetness, the soldiers' enthusiasm for training no longer needed Lin Fan to force them.

The soldiers were completely active and motivated in their training.

In yesterday's fierce battle, the Special Operations Company only had three minor injuries. Two were stabbed in the arm during bayonet fighting.

One was shot in the thigh during the charge, but he was very lucky, and the bullet passed through the muscle, so the injury was not serious.

All the soldiers of the 542nd Regiment were on full alert today, preparing for a more intense counterattack by the Japanese.

What everyone did not expect was that on the 30th, not a single Japanese soldier was seen on the Sihang Warehouse position.

All the newspapers in Shanghai published large reports on the heroic deeds of the eight hundred heroes of Sihang Warehouse, who held on to the isolated island.

The battle yesterday was only mentioned in passing, only reporting that the 542nd Regiment had won a great victory over the Japanese army, which was regarded as a response to the voice of the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force the day before.

But that was all.

As for the newspapers of other countries in the world, there was not a single word about the great battle yesterday.

Today, the Suzhou Creek seemed to have calmed down.

The reporters who were on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek yesterday were all gone.

Just a dozen miles away from Sihang Warehouse, in Dachang Town, a fierce battle was in progress.

This fierce battle was foreshadowed. On the day the 542nd Regiment was transferred to Sihang Warehouse, Dachang Town, an important position of the Chinese army in Shanghai, fell.

This is the most direct reason why the 542nd Regiment was stationed on the isolated island.

On the 29th, two Guangxi armies that had come from afar arrived on the battlefield.

The Guangxi army was good at fighting, and the Guangxi warlord Li Ren and Lao Chang had always been at odds.

Under the banner of national unity against Japan, the Guangxi faction was able to send six elite divisions to participate in the war.

The whole country was deeply encouraged, and the signatory countries of the Nine-Power Treaty would hold a meeting on November 6.

After learning that the six elite divisions of the Guangxi army had arrived on the battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek immediately had new ideas.

He wanted to launch a counterattack before the documents of the signatory countries of the Nine-Power Treaty were released to show the international community that he still had strength.

Lin Fan played a decisive role in this, although Lin Fan did not know it!

It turned out that although the details of the offensive and defensive battle that took place in Sihang Warehouse on the 29th were not made public.

However, Chiang Kai-shek knew everything. He believed that since a Chinese army battalion with an actual combat force of less than six hundred men.

Was able to annihilate six thousand Japanese soldiers in the absence of both air force and heavy artillery.

Then the six newly arrived divisions on the battlefield would also be able to recapture Dachang Town for the Chinese army.

So, under the personal decision and command of President Chiang Kai-shek, the Guangxi army launched a counterattack against the Japanese army in Dachang Town.

The Guangxi army, which had just arrived on the Songhu battlefield, had always been known for its bravery and skill in battle. They also knew about the battle results of the eight hundred heroes of the 542nd Regiment.

The morale of the soldiers was extremely high.

On the morning of the 30th, the Chinese army, which was ready, first launched a large number of smoke bombs, intending to blur the Japanese army's vision and reduce the obstacles during the Chinese army's attack.

At the same time, they began to carry out artillery strikes!

Unexpectedly, the wind direction suddenly changed, and all the smoke bombs that were launched backflowed and were blown to their own positions.

The artillery strike that had just begun immediately lost its target.

Now, the heavy artillery positions that the Chinese army had painstakingly arranged could not see the target as soon as they started firing.

On the other hand, the Japanese artillery had a clear line of sight, and all the artillery and tanks fired together.

The unit responsible for attacking Dachang Town was the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army.

Now, the 34th Regiment of the Japanese Army is also defending here. The regimental commander, Ko Minato Ichiro, looked at the Chinese soldiers charging up on the front line, densely packed.

This was not a probing attack by a company, but a full-scale attack by a regiment, a regiment.

34th Regiment Commander Ko Minato Ichiro instructed the Japanese army on the front line to let these Chinese soldiers get closer before firing.

This counterattack by the Chinese army was mainly based on the six divisions of the Guangxi army that had newly entered the battlefield.

Liao Lei was the commander of the 7th Army, which had three divisions under its command, the 170th Division, with Xu Qiming as the division commander; the 171st Division, with Yang Junchang as the division commander; and the 172nd Division, with Cheng Shufen as the division commander.

These three divisions mainly attacked in the direction of Wusongkou.

Xia Wei was the commander of the 31st Army, which had the 173rd Division, the 174th Division, and the 135th Division under its command.

These three divisions mainly attacked Zhang Huabin.

If the preset goals were achieved, the Chinese army would be able to form a completely independent defense circle in Liuhang, Yanghang, Miaohang Zhang Huabin, Yunzaobin, and Wusongkou.

The entire northern defense line would be greatly stabilized.

The officers and soldiers of these six divisions held their rifles and bravely launched an attack on the Japanese army.

The Guangxi army has always been known for fighting fierce battles and tough battles.

The full-scale attack, with these six divisions as the main force, was very tragic from the beginning.

In the absence of effective support from the Chinese army's artillery, the infantry still charged bravely.

The Japanese army waited until the Chinese soldiers charging were close to the position at a distance of 30 meters before opening fire fiercely.

The three-dimensional firepower composed of heavy artillery, tanks, and machine guns knocked down a large number of Guangxi soldiers who were charging upright.

Large swaths of Chinese soldiers were shot down by the Japanese machine guns.

The Japanese also used their secret weapon: a 305mm caliber howitzer.

Such a cannon could cause a company to lose its combat effectiveness with one shell.

The Guangxi army's counterattack launched by the six divisions had to stop after persisting for a day. The entire front line did not move forward a single step, but in one day, the six divisions suffered heavy casualties and had lost their combat effectiveness.

This gave Chiang Kai-shek a great blow.

He had to re-examine the mediation letter sent by the powers of the Public Concession today.

The mediation letter stated: In view of the fierce fighting between the Chinese and Japanese sides in Sihang Warehouse.

All sectors of the concession expressed deep concern and decided, in the spirit of humanitarianism, to accept the isolated army of the Chinese army stationed in Sihang Warehouse into the concession.

This was not a suggestion or a request for comments.

This was just a notice: notifying Chiang Kai-shek to end the mission of the 542nd Regiment.

Originally, Chiang Kai-shek saw the strong combat effectiveness of the 542nd Regiment and also intended to find a way to bring this regiment back.

The ending of the six divisions of the Guangxi army today poured a bucket of cold water on him.

If the scale of soldiers invested between the Chinese and Japanese armies had already reached millions, he would not dare to declare war on Japan.

Although the whole world knew that this was a full-scale war, in the international arena, Chiang Kai-shek and Japan tacitly promoted that it was a conflict!

Now Chiang Kai-shek decided to accept the mediation of the concession.

Now the purpose of him leaving this isolated army to defend the urban area of Shanghai had been achieved:

The entire international community had seen the courage and combat effectiveness of the Chinese soldiers.

Although the 542nd Regiment had been holding out for less than seven days, they had overfulfilled their mission!

At 8:00 p.m. on the 30th, Yang Hu, the commander of the Shanghai Garrison, sent someone to inform Xie Jinyuan to lead his troops to prepare to retreat to the Public Concession on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek: the entire regiment retreated into the concession in one day and night.

Xie Jinyuan immediately opposed: He would die to serve the country and vowed to coexist with Sihang Warehouse. He would not retreat into the concession, and the 542nd Regiment would not retreat into the concession.

Yang Hu was at a loss: He did not expect that Xie Jinyuan was really determined to die in Sihang Warehouse when he was defending Sihang Warehouse.

In order to complete the task assigned by President Chiang, he had no choice but to ask Zhang Boting, the chief of staff of the 88th Division, to come and do ideological work for Xie Jinyuan.

On the phone, even when facing the chief of staff, Xie Jinyuan would not let go: He wanted to hold on!

Zhang Boting had no choice but to say that this was President Chiang's order: Xie Jinyuan said that a general abroad may disobey his lord's command.

Having no other choice, Zhang Boting had to ask President Chiang for instructions, and the President personally issued an order to Xie Jinyuan.

Only then did Xie Jinyuan have to accept the order to withdraw into the concession.

At about 9:00 p.m. on October 30, 1937, Xie Jinyuan convened a meeting of all company-level and above officers of the Sihang Warehouse garrison.

At the meeting, the order from the higher authorities to withdraw the entire 542nd Regiment into the concession in one day and night was announced.

Lin Fan looked at Battalion Commander Yang Ruifu and the four company commanders, and none of them expressed any objection.

He could only stand up and say: "If our army retreats into the concession, it will be like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth, and there will be no chance to turn over.

I resolutely oppose retreating into the concession.

We are now only 20 kilometers away from the main force of the Chinese army.

The straight-line distance is less than ten kilometers.

If you believe me, our Special Operations Company will lead the way and will definitely be able to lead the entire 542nd Regiment out of the Japanese army's defense line.

Return to the ranks of the Chinese army."

Shangguan Zhibiao and Lei Xiong's expressions loosened a little. They did not want to retreat into the concession either.

Xie Jinyuan said: "This is an order directly issued by President Chiang. It is the duty of us soldiers to obey orders.

When there is an order from above, those below must obey.

It is impossible for our 542nd Regiment to disobey orders.

Company Commander Lin, your Special Operations Company originally did not belong to the 542nd Regiment. You are free to act.

If there is anything that the 542nd Regiment needs to assist with, please be sure to speak up."

After Xie Jinyuan said this, Shangguan Zhibiao and Lei Xiong's expressions suddenly became serious.

They dared not say anything anymore.

As someone who had been through it, Lin Fan was too clear about what would happen to this heroic team next.

After being silent for a while, he said: "Regimental Commander Xie, I have a few words of advice.

Please be sure to listen:

After the 542nd Regiment retreats into the concession, it must maintain its military force and not surrender its weapons.

The eight tanks seized by the Special Operations Company must also be brought in together.

Be vigilant at all times and beware of being disarmed by the concession."

Xie Jinyuan smiled: "A soldier without weapons is not a soldier.

Company Commander Lin, rest assured: The more than 400 people in our regiment will never lay down their weapons."

Lin Fan asked: "What if the President issues such an order again?"

"President Chiang will not issue such an order."

Lin Fan sighed and stopped pestering him.