Lin Fan held a rifle, bending over and following behind the tank, cautiously watching the surroundings and the various windows of the Bank of Communications in front.

Although the shells fired by the tank cannons exploded against the walls and inside the Bank of Communications from time to time.

There were still stubborn Japanese soldiers sticking their weapons out of the windows, shooting futilely at the attacking Special Company.

The soldiers of the Special Company relied on the cover of the tanks to shoot at the exposed Japanese soldiers.

The machine guns mounted on the tanks were not to be outdone; their positions were better, and their fields of fire were also better.

They were shooting even more vigorously.

After firing two rounds of shells, the three tanks began to move forward again.

The remaining four tanks continued to block the Japanese attacks in place.

On the roof, all the officers above the company level of the 542nd Regiment, except for the Second Company Commander, were still defending the position outside.

The rest were on the roof watching the soldiers of the Special Company attack the Bank of Communications occupied by the Japanese soldiers.

Deng Ying, the Second Company Commander, also led the soldiers at the front, leaning out to observe.

The three tanks first escorted the soldiers following behind them into the Bank of Communications building.

Then they retreated, all the way to the side of the Sihang Warehouse, leaving enough distance before joining the ranks of shelling.

Now those tank gunners could slowly come out of their first live-fire exercise.

Their first shell just needed to be fired and explode.

Now they needed to be accurate.

How to shoot?

Of course, it was to get close to those windows and send a shell into each one.

Lin Fan did not let them save on these shells.

This was because Lin Fan knew that the Defense of Sihang Warehouse, no matter how it was fought, could only be considered a minor skirmish now.

Many of the Japanese soldiers' tactics had not been used.

If they really launched an attack on the Sihang Warehouse regardless of the cost.

With heavy artillery, aerial bombs, and poison gas bombs all used.

The defending force of only five hundred people, without heavy weapons, and without artillery support behind them.

There was no way they could hold out for even a day.

Therefore, Lin Fan did not feel sorry for weapons like tank guns, which were not of much use to him.

It was enough to let the soldiers get familiar with the feeling of firing (cannons) and cultivate their habits of using these weapons.

When Lin Fan led more than fifty soldiers into the Bank of Communications.

Iwane Matsui, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Force, also received the news that the soldiers he sent to attack the Sihang Warehouse had suffered heavy losses.

Now they were shrinking back in the Bank of Communications building opposite the Sihang Warehouse and were being attacked by the defending soldiers of the Sihang Warehouse.

Iwane Matsui spat out a mouthful of blood: his troops were winning everywhere.

Only at the Sihang Warehouse were there repeated casualties.

It seemed that the combat effectiveness of the Third Division was still not good enough.

Iwane Matsui no longer gave Katayama Riichiro any chance to explain.

He ordered: "The entire Shanghai Naval Landing Force will be transferred to attack the Sihang Warehouse.

All troops of the Third Division will immediately go to the western front of Shanghai to join the attack on the Nationalist army's front line."

He did not mention a word about the hundreds of Japanese soldiers surrounded in the Bank of Communications.

After receiving the transfer order, Nakajo Ayumu, commander of the 68th Infantry Regiment, immediately organized two battalions of infantry and quickly reinforced the Bank of Communications.

He wanted to rescue the Murashita Battalion trapped in the building.

Lin Fan, who had just rushed to the second floor of the Bank of Communications, received the latest battlefield intelligence.

He immediately organized the troops to rush into a room on the second floor and used wooden stakes to stir up explosive packs.

The floor collapsed.

Lin Fan's only purpose was to destroy the two Type 92 battalion guns on the third floor on the second floor.

Sure enough: along with the floor, two Japanese infantry guns placed upstairs fell down.

He directed the soldiers to destroy the two cannons on the spot.

Then Lin Fan sent soldiers to set explosives everywhere on the second floor. He could not blow up the building, but he had to cripple it.

After all the soldiers had retreated, Lin Fan lit the fuse.

He led the Special Company to retreat quickly.

In three minutes, everyone saw thick smoke and dust coming out of the windows of the Bank of Communications building.

The entire building seemed to dance, shaking several times.

Finally, it landed safely.

Some of the Japanese soldiers of the Murashita Taro Battalion, in a state of panic, scrambled to the roof.

They were immediately subjected to two consecutive rounds of mortar bombardment by the soldiers of the First Company, who were prepared.

Six shells cleared all the Japanese soldiers on the roof.

The surviving Japanese soldiers of the entire Murashita Taro Battalion huddled in the building, shivering.

This time, the rescue soldiers of the Nakajo Battalion were extremely lucky.

Lin Fan, the defending army's long-range killer, was still on the ground directing his tank troops to retreat back to the Sihang Warehouse.

He did not have time to go upstairs to fire cannons.

By the time Lin Fan directed his Special Company to park the tanks on the ground floor.

The Japanese soldiers of the Sixth Regiment had already retreated with the Murashita Battalion, which had only two hundred soldiers left.

Colonel Xie Jinyuan looked at the dark mass of Japanese soldiers, at least two thousand of them, sweeping in like a tide.

They also took away the Japanese soldiers who had retreated from the Bank of Communications building.

They came and went freely, as if they were in an uninhabited place.

Their advance and retreat were orderly.

Just looking at the Japanese soldiers' command and actions, which were so free and easy.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, as a soldier, he had to face the problem squarely:

The training of the Japanese soldiers was indeed more formal and stricter than that of the Nationalist army.

Looking at their advance and retreat, more than two thousand Japanese soldiers truly acted as if they were one, advancing and retreating as one person.

Colonel Xie knew deeply that there was still a long way to go on the road of resistance.

Perhaps hope lay in people like Lin Fan.

From the strict requirements of Lin Fan's training of the Special Company, Colonel Xie saw a spirit.

A spirit of soldiers advocated by German instructors!

Defending the country and home, even unto death!

The Japanese Shanghai Naval Special Landing Force originally had only more than four thousand people.

Back in August, this Shanghai Naval Special Landing Force had four 150mm howitzers and four 120mm howitzers.

Eight 150mm mortars, twelve 75mm mountain guns.

Four 70mm infantry guns, four 37mm rapid-fire guns, four 75mm anti-aircraft guns, and sixteen 13mm machine guns.

They also had three medium tanks, four light tanks, and eleven armored vehicles.

This force was well-equipped and had a tenacious style.

At the beginning of the battle initiated by Chiang Kai-shek, the Nationalist army's two ace German-equipped divisions had more heavy artillery than the Japanese soldiers, and the number of troops was as high as 20,000.

They were not able to wipe out the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force, which had only 4,300 people.

Instead, they allowed them to hold out in the Japanese yarn factories in Shanghai until reinforcements arrived.

Now Commander-in-Chief Iwane Matsui had transferred this force over.

This time, he was not sending one battalion after another to carry out a piecemeal tactic.

Commander-in-Chief Iwane Matsui was an army commander and had always looked down on the naval forces, who only dared to fire (cannons) from a distance.

Therefore, he strictly ordered the entire Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force to come over, and they must capture the Sihang Warehouse.

Since the beginning of the war, the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force had been supplemented by naval landing forces from various naval vessels that had come to support them from the mainland.

Now the strength of this force had reached more than 8,000 people.

The Japanese navy had ample military spending, at least more than the army spent.

In order to commend the achievements of the Shanghai Naval Landing Force, and also to prove that even if the navy fought a land battle, they were much better than those army *nama baka* (idiots).

Therefore, they added a large number of heavy weapons and ten tanks to this naval landing force.

Now Iwane Matsui's order was to capture the Sihang Warehouse.

Upon receiving the order, Rear Admiral Takuo Toshi, commander of the Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force, immediately began preparing for the troops to return.

The Japanese Shanghai Naval Landing Force, with more than 8,000 people, was still fighting with the main force of the Nationalist army in the western suburbs of Shanghai at this time!

The Sixth Brigade under the Third Division had long wanted to get rid of the hot potato of attacking the Sihang Warehouse.

Upon receiving the order, Nakajo Ayumu, commander of the 68th Regiment, immediately sent more than 2,000 troops.

After rescuing the Murashita Battalion trapped in the Bank of Communications building, they retreated in a hurry without even cleaning up the bodies of the Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.

They rushed to the new battlefield.

In the view of Katayama Riichiro, commander of the 18th Regiment, there was much more room for him to display his talents on the battlefield.

He could use heavy artillery if he wanted to use heavy artillery, and he could ask the air force for guidance if he wanted to ask the air force for guidance.

How could it be like in this ghostly place of the Sihang Warehouse, not to mention heavy artillery, even using small cannons was guided by multinational military observers.

Their guidance was to prohibit the use of artillery bombardment.

With their hands and feet tied like this, how could the 68th Regiment attack?

Now it was good, let the warriors of the 18th Regiment perform bravely on the battlefield!

Lieutenant General Katayama Riichiro, commander of the Third Division, also thought so: "Let the warriors of the Third Division wash away the shame on their bodies on the battlefield!"

In his opinion, the failure of the Third Division to capture the Sihang Warehouse this time was a disgrace!

Takuo Toshi, commander of the Shanghai Naval Landing Force, was not clear about these situations.

And who cared whether he was clear or not, or whether he was willing or not.

Military orders were hard to defy, and he had to order his 8,400 soldiers to withdraw from the front line with all their light and heavy weapons.

They marched mightily towards the urban area of Shanghai.

The Shanghai Expeditionary Force Headquarters did not send the information on the army's attack on the Sihang Warehouse in the past few days.

Minister Plenipotentiary Koinuma Kiyoshi knew in advance that the contradictions between the imperial navy and army were irreconcilable.

He had prepared all the information on the setbacks suffered by the army in attacking the Sihang Warehouse in the past few days and sent it to Commander Takuo Toshi.

Holding this document filled with the army's failures.

Commander Takuo Toshi laughed loudly: "As expected of the army *baka*, they have no brains."

While his troops were still on the march, he immediately ordered the entire team to be divided into three parts to surround the entire Sihang Warehouse from three sides.

He still regarded the west as the main attack direction, and the Japanese soldiers in the other two directions were to prevent the Nationalist army soldiers from escaping.

Commander Takuo Toshi's troops had just arrived at the battlefield at dusk.

He did not launch an attack immediately, but ordered the artillery troops to set up their positions first.

All units should rest well tonight and capture the Sihang Warehouse in one go tomorrow.

He wanted to show those army *baka* how the Japanese Imperial Navy Landing Force carried out siege warfare.

The 542nd Regiment stationed at the Sihang Warehouse encountered a rare free time.

The Japanese soldiers' attack in the morning only lasted for two hours, and they never appeared again afterward.

In the afternoon, not even a shadow of a Japanese soldier could be seen.

Koinuma Kiyoshi hired people from the concession to cross the bridge to collect the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

The concession did not allow him to transport hundreds of bodies back to the concession.

Koinuma Kiyoshi had no choice but to ask people to send these bodies to the Japanese concession.

The battlefield was cleaned up once again.

Li Xian waited in the concession for a reply from his superiors.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the workers organized by Koinuma Kiyoshi to enter and exit the concession, he entered the Sihang Warehouse again.

At the same time, food, vegetables, and fruits sent by the people of Shanghai were also sent into the Sihang Warehouse.

When Li Xian saw Lin Fan again, he smiled and told him the reply from his superiors.

When asked what requirements Lin Fan had.

Lin Fan had already thought it over: "I need at least ten soldiers with firm political beliefs and strong combat qualities, preferably those who have participated in long-term guerrilla warfare.

At least ten people, at most twenty.

My idea is that all the cadres above the squad level in this company should be held by comrades with firm beliefs.

The advantage of this is that the team has strong combat resilience.

In addition, I need an assistant, and the company needs a political instructor!

To do ideological work for the soldiers."

Lin Fan's request had already made clear his attitude:

The Special Company must accept the leadership of the organization and accept the command of the organization.

The Special Company must become a team controlled by the organization.

Li Xian did not anticipate this situation, but he immediately decided to go back and ask for instructions.

In addition, Lin Fan also entrusted Li Xian to do another thing: "During the defense of the Sihang Warehouse these days, the troops have seized a large number of Japanese weapons.

I would like to ask the organization to transport these weapons into the concession for safekeeping. If they are left in the Sihang Warehouse, they will belong to the Japanese sooner or later."

Everyone in the world understood this point: no matter how heroic the defending soldiers of the Sihang Warehouse were, no matter how unafraid of sacrifice they were.

The isolated island of the Sihang Warehouse would eventually be breached, the only difference was the matter of time!

Li Xian left with his mission, only staying in the Sihang Warehouse for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and then returned to the concession.

Before long, the clothes on his body had changed from a suit and leather shoes to a long gown.

A fake beard was also attached to his chin, and he appeared at the Shanghai Anti-Japanese War Liaison Office.

He walked into the gate of the office, passed through the reception room, and entered the innermost room, where he met the director of the office.

The director had already learned about Lin Fan's situation from Li Xian's report last night.

Seeing him come back again, he asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

Li Xian told him the requests made by Lin Fan.

The director of the office only thought for a moment: "The help he needs is all within our ability.

It's just that we have to transfer the manpower he needs from the team, and it will definitely not arrive in ten days or half a month.

We don't know if they can hold on for so long.

Where will these people meet, and how will they join?

This is a problem!

However, they need a political instructor, and this person can be sent over first.

As for transporting weapons into the concession, this can still be done.

It's a bit difficult to send weapons out now, but there's no problem with bringing them in."

Li Xian thought for a while: "The telephone in the Sihang Warehouse is still intact. If possible, I will ask for instructions to contact them directly by telephone.

In addition, I request to stay in Lin Fan's Special Company in the Sihang Warehouse."

"You should be clear about what to say on the phone!"

"Clear!"

"The Sihang Warehouse is now a volcano. You want to stay there. Have you thought about the dangers?"

"I have thought about it. I have been in contact with the soldiers of the Special Company in the Sihang Warehouse these days.

I already have a certain emotional foundation, and the soldiers accept me relatively easily.

I have contacted Company Commander Lin Fan several times, and the trust between the two sides is slowly increasing.

This is an advantage!"

"The sooner the weapons are sent out, the better! They have already killed more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers in the Sihang Warehouse, which is almost equivalent to opening up a new front.

The Japanese will not let them continue like this."

"Understood! I will try to take action tonight!"

"As for you taking the initiative to serve as a political instructor in the Special Company, I have to ask for instructions from above."

After Li Xian left the Sihang Warehouse.

Lin Fan immediately went upstairs to find Colonel Xie Jinyuan.

He said to Colonel Xie, "Colonel! I have an idea that I would like to ask for your instructions on."

Xie Jinyuan said with a smile, "Company Commander Lin, please speak your mind."

"Colonel! I'll be frank. After fighting these days, we have seized too many weapons.

In order to preserve our strength, I plan to send all these weapons into the concession.

To prepare for our future breakout and expansion of the anti-Japanese war."

"It's coming!" Battalion Commander Yang Ruifu, who was standing on the side, thought in his heart.

"Company Commander Lin Fan is preparing to leave?" Xie Jinyuan looked at Lin Fan and asked.

"No! As long as I am needed here, neither I nor the soldiers of the Special Company will leave.

But these weapons need to be sent out.

More than two thousand guns can arm an elite main regiment."

Xie Jinyuan pointed to the concession: "At this time, can weapons be sent in?"

Lin Fan said with a smile: "At this time, if we send weapons in, the concession should turn a blind eye.

On the contrary, they will definitely not agree to send weapons in from the inside."

"Why?" Xie Jinyuan asked.

"Because the concession does not want us to continue resisting like this. These days, I have carefully considered that near the place where we are stationed, there are two round iron tanks.

They are two tanks full of gas. If they are detonated by stray bullets, most of the entire concession will be blown up.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers' attacks these days have been restrained.

If the Japanese soldiers let go, our resistance will become difficult.

Similarly, the concession will become very dangerous.

Therefore, the concession hopes that we will give up defending this place as soon as possible."

Xie Jinyuan and Yang Ruifu looked at the two tall gas tanks and nodded: "That makes sense."

Lin Fan continued: "When we defended here, we had already made the determination to die, and we must hold on to the last moment.

But the weapons in our hands, our spark that can be passed down, must be passed down.

When our group falls, thousands of Chinese people will stand up.

Pick up the weapons we have seized and fight the invaders."

Hearing this, Xie Jinyuan nodded with a smile: "Okay! These weapons are superfluous for us.

But for the current anti-Japanese war, they are rare good weapons.

Company Commander Lin, you should collect these weapons immediately.

Send them out according to your plan!"