林凡

Chapter 14 Annihilation

Lin Fan's battlefield cleanup mobilization consisted of only a few sentences. If it weren't for the fact that this company was too undisciplined and too green, such a battlefield mobilization wouldn't have been necessary at all.

Fortunately, the Japanese soldiers they faced today were few and not very strong, which allowed Lin Fan to say these extra words.

Lin Fan was the first to charge out, with Wu Xiaobao and Zhao Long each holding a rifle with fixed bayonet, closely following Lin Fan on either side.

Behind Lin Fan, the closest were the dozen or so talents directly under his command.

Among these people, at least seven harbored a strong desire to kill him.

But at this moment, these people couldn't care less about that.

They charged faster than Lin Fan.

They rushed out of the trenches, a distance of less than thirty meters, in just a few seconds.

These soldiers raised their rifles and shot at the Japanese soldiers who had been killed by Lin Fan's first burst of machine gun fire, ensuring they were dead.

They coordinated well, with some specializing in follow-up shots and others specializing in knife thrusts!

At this time, Lin Fan shouted loudly, "Search carefully, gather everything together, don't leave the Japanese soldiers anything!"

While Lin Fan's company was cleaning the battlefield, joyous firecrackers were already going off on the opposite bank.

The excited Shanghai citizens couldn't contain their joy and had specially bought piles of firecrackers to celebrate on the opposite bank.

People had no time to care about those citizens who were shot and were still receiving emergency treatment.

James stopped a car and sent the two injured soldiers to the hospital.

Then he began to drive away the citizens along the Suzhou Creek.

He didn't know how to report the incident to his superiors.

This was a real diplomatic incident.

Xie Jinyuan and Yang Ruifu had already stood up on the roof of the Four Banks Warehouse.

They still felt like they were in a dream after the battle that had just taken place!

Since when had the National Revolutionary Army become so capable?

A company temporarily formed from deserters had actually annihilated a Japanese squad that came to attack.

This was a true annihilation; they stood high up and had a clear view of the entire squad of Japanese soldiers' fate.

Yang Ruifu had only seen Lei Xiong fight such a battle once yesterday.

That time, it was a trap that the entire battalion had spent a lot of effort to design.

The Japanese soldiers were annihilated because they fell into the trap.

Today was different: the Japanese soldiers were preparing for a frontal attack and were annihilated by the defending National Revolutionary Army.

Xie Jinyuan said to Yang Ruifu, "Let's go! Let's go down and take a look!"

Before going down, he said to the sentry observing on the roof, "Pay attention to observation, report any situation in time! The Japanese soldiers have suffered such a big loss and won't let it go so easily."

When he led several company commanders of the 1st Battalion to the front line of the Special Company's position, the battlefield cleanup work of the Special Company had already been completed.

Out of one hundred and fifty-seven people, two were killed and two were injured in the battle just now.

The two injured soldiers hadn't stayed in the trenches.

They had also rushed out to clean up the battlefield.

Fifty-four Japanese soldiers attacked on the opposite side, roughly three soldiers cleaned up one Japanese soldier.

In reality, it wasn't like that; many Japanese soldiers were blown to smithereens by Lin Fan's mortar fire.

Only pieces of minced meat were left on the ground, making it impossible to collect any spoils of war.

After this battle, the Special Company captured twenty-nine Type 38 rifles, one intact machine gun, some bullets, and some grenades.

All other weapons were blown to pieces.

Xie Jinyuan praised the Special Company's performance on the spot.

These officers could clearly see that after this battle, the soldiers of this company had confidence in their eyes and no longer had the blank look they had last night.

The faces of each soldier were filled with the joy of a great victory.

Lin Fan said to the soldiers of his company, "We have a total of one hundred and fifty-seven people in the entire company.

We just killed fifty-four Japanese soldiers, an average of one Japanese soldier killed by every three soldiers.

Everyone immediately cleans and maintains their guns to prepare for the next battle.

As long as we stand here, we must not let the Japanese soldiers advance a single step.

Does everyone have confidence?"

"Yes!" The soldiers of the Special Company had become accustomed to answering their company commander's questions loudly.

Lin Fan nodded with a smile, "Now! Everyone, clean and maintain your weapons!"

After issuing the order, he also began to maintain his weapons.

In front of him were two Zhongzheng rifles, a machine gun, and a mortar.

These guns all needed to be cleaned by him.

Wu Xiaobao and Zhao Long also had their own rifles to maintain.

The sound of gunfire on the banks of the Suzhou Creek echoed throughout Shanghai.

American Ambassador to China Nelson Johnson personally listened to James's report: two American soldiers were deliberately targeted and wounded by Japanese soldiers. One of the soldiers, named Nick, from New York, died in the hospital due to his serious injuries.

This was a major event. Should they use this as a reason to participate in the battle?

This was a difficult choice!

Such a choice could not be decided by a diplomat.

The power of choice was given to President Roosevelt in America, thousands of miles away.

Roosevelt was now dealing with the rapid cooling after the economic crisis in the United States.

All his energy was focused on the domestic situation, and he had no intention of participating in the conflict far away in the East.

Nelson Johnson understood what to do.

So he immediately summoned the Japanese Ambassador to China, Kawagoe Shigeru, to lodge a strong protest.

He pointed out that the Japanese military had seriously violated the original agreement and had actually opened fire on American soldiers who were normally on duty on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek.

This had resulted in the serious consequences of one death and one injury.

Ambassador Kawagoe Shigeru immediately expressed serious concern about this matter and stated that the Great Japanese Empire was willing to make compensation.

This was exactly what Nelson Johnson wanted.

Kawagoe Shigeru wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible. Japan was currently fighting smoothly with the National Revolutionary Army.

If the United States were to cause trouble, the entire island nation would be in danger of destruction, and all the benefits that had been hard-won would have to be returned.

Therefore, faced with Nelson Johnson's exorbitant demands: compensation of $300,000 for the deceased soldier, $100,000 for the injured, and $600,000 for the treatment costs of the citizens who died in the Suzhou Creek tragedy.

A total of one million dollars in compensation.

All to be paid in full within three days!

After the United States and Japan reached an agreement, the ambassadors of Great Britain and Italy also joined in.

The International Settlement was jointly managed by the United States, Great Britain, and Italy.

Before this, they had already discussed with the Japanese about dividing the north bank of the Suzhou Creek, which originally belonged to the International Settlement, and giving it to the Japanese as a battlefield.

The condition was that the Japanese were not allowed to enter the International Settlement on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek.

Now that the south bank of the Settlement had been attacked, the ambassadors of these two countries also argued that the security of the south bank of the Suzhou Creek was threatened and that the injured and deceased citizens on the banks of the Suzhou Creek needed treatment, and each received $500,000 in compensation from the Japanese.

Also to be paid in full within three days.

Ambassador Kawagoe Shigeru and the Japanese High Command were unwilling to drag these three great powers into the battlefield because of this matter.

They instructed Ambassador Kawagoe Shigeru to pay the money immediately to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Less than ten minutes after the Suzhou Creek tragedy, Chiang Kai-shek, the president of the National Government in Nanjing, received the news.

He immediately convened a meeting to discuss the current situation. Many of the participants at the meeting had excited expressions on their faces: American soldiers had been attacked!

Now they had finally dragged a major power into the conflict. How would the subsequent battles continue? In the minds of these people, even if the Americans didn't participate in the war, as long as they stopped selling steel and oil to Japan, the National Revolutionary Army would be able to drag Japan down in less than three months.

And since the incident happened in the International Settlement, where Britain also had a share, if Britain's weapons and tanks were not sold to the Japanese, the battles on the main battlefield would be much easier.

The meeting decided to immediately send Ms. He Xiangning to negotiate with the American and British ambassadors on behalf of the government, hoping to obtain the support of these two countries in advance.

Chiang Kai-shek ordered that all newspapers tomorrow must extensively report the news about the two American soldiers who were murdered by Japanese soldiers while patrolling normally on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek.

And express deep condolences and sincere sympathy!

Less than an hour after his decision was made, he received a call from American Minister Nelson Johnson.

In the call, the American Minister made a request: all news about American soldiers on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek must not be published!

This request made Chiang Kai-shek understand that today's meeting was a waste of time.

Since the Americans didn't even allow reporting, it meant that they had already made a deal with Japan behind the scenes.

Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he smashed the teacup in his office: Damn it! The Americans can still endure in this situation.

His original expectations for the United Nations General Assembly meeting to be held on November 3rd began to decline.

The Americans could endure this kind of thing, let alone Asian affairs that didn't concern them.

Coupled with the fact that the United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy had opened the International Settlement, allowing the Japanese to attack the National Revolutionary Army, but not allowing the National Revolutionary Army soldiers to attack the Japanese army through the Settlement!

Chiang Kai-shek became more and more depressed!

Compared to Chiang Kai-shek's depression, Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu, commander of the Japanese Army's 3rd Division, and Colonel Tabata Toshio, chief of staff, were even more furious: they had finally waited for the National Revolutionary Army to retreat and had just occupied the Zhabei Railway Station, which had been under siege for many days.

They had received the honor of having General Matsui Iwane, commander-in-chief of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, personally inspect the railway station.

Less than three hours later, something happened to their soldiers.

The deaths of dozens of soldiers, while causing Fujita Susumu some sadness, made him even sadder: these soldiers could die!

But why did they have to shoot at the American Daddy before they died?

Their shooting not only reset all the previous achievements of the 3rd Division, but also cost the Empire a full two million dollars in compensation.

Heaven knows if there will be other shady backroom deals in the future?

Matsui Iwane had already issued an order as soon as he received the news: no matter what, the 3rd Division had to occupy the Four Banks Warehouse before dark.

All the National Revolutionary Army soldiers who were blocking the Empire's advance had to be turned into minced meat.

Only in this way could the hatred in the hearts of the entire Empire be resolved!

Matsui Iwane still had a vivid memory of the tragedy that occurred when he personally supervised the battle at Zhabei Railway Station yesterday.

Therefore, he was unwilling to go to the front line again today.

It was enough to issue the order to Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu, commander of the 3rd Division.

Fujita Susumu, who had accepted the task, immediately conveyed the latest received order to the Tank Regiment, which had just occupied Zhabei Station today.

Strictly speaking, this regiment was not part of the 3rd Division, but was temporarily assigned to Fujita Susumu.

At the same time, Fujita Susumu also sent the 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment up.

The squad that had just had the accident was a soldier of the 6th Infantry Regiment under the command of the 5th Infantry Brigade.

Brigadier General Katayama Riichiro, commander of the 5th Brigade, appeared in front of Colonel Gosho Tsuyoshi, commander of the 6th Regiment, with a swollen face after receiving a dozen slaps left and right from Fujita Susumu.

He doubled down on the care he received and then ordered, "Immediately organize an infantry attack. I want to be on the roof of the Four Banks Warehouse in two hours."

Colonel Gosho Tsuyoshi, commander of the regiment, who received the order, stood at attention: "Hai!"

He kept shouting, "Hai!"

This time, the 6th Infantry Regiment directly dispatched a full company of soldiers and launched an attack behind the tanks.

When the artillerymen of the 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment arrived at the scene, they realized that there was only a range of about twenty meters wide and more than one hundred meters long in front of them where their shells could land.

Before firing, the commander of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment repeatedly warned that they must not fire their shells to the south bank of the river.

If anyone fired the shells off target, they would immediately go to see Amaterasu!

Such high and precise requirements made all the artillerymen hesitant and no longer dared to fire freely.

When the artillery fire sounded, these shells, except for not hitting the target, did not hit the south bank of the Suzhou Creek either.

Only two shells landed on the roof of the Four Banks Warehouse.

The remaining shells all landed on the traffic bank building next door.

After only two rounds of bombing, Colonel Watanabe Taro, commander of the Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, ordered to stop firing.

He was also unwilling to fire too many shells under these circumstances.

The requirements were too high, and he and the artillerymen under his command could not do it.

On the other hand, the seven tanks imported from Great Britain entered the field at this time, emitting black smoke.

When the Japanese soldiers had just started shelling, the commanders of the 1st Battalion of the 542nd Regiment had all retreated.

Even the soldiers on the roof had all retreated.

When the sound of the shells exploding outside stopped, these soldiers rushed out again.

They were five floors higher than the Special Company soldiers guarding the position outside the Four Banks Warehouse.

They immediately discovered the seven tanks that were slowly approaching.

The news was quickly passed to Lin Fan.

At this time, the position where he was standing could not see the Japanese tanks.

However, Lin Fan was not worried about this. Japanese tanks had always insisted on taking the path of light and ultra-light.

In fact, it was just bullying China's basically blank industry, which could not produce tanks.

Therefore, the Japanese tanks had only one design goal: to be able to withstand machine gun fire.

Lin Fan now had a mortar in his hand, which was still useful for dealing with a few tanks.

If he didn't have this gun, he would have to send someone forward to deal with the Japanese tanks with explosive packs.

In that situation, the casualties would be very high, and it was not certain that the mission could be completed.

Fifteen minutes later, the Japanese tanks finally appeared.

These tanks entered the eyes of the Special Company soldiers one after another.

Now the tanks were still more than a thousand meters away from the Special Company's position.

Lin Fan heard a soldier behind him shouting, "Company Commander! Those iron lumps that are coming. We can't hit them at all. Why don't we go inside!"

These soldiers were afraid. The morale that had been boosted by the battle just now was shattered by the sudden appearance of the tanks.

Lin Fan looked at the tanks and said loudly, "Those iron coffins are just for scaring people. They are the Japanese soldiers' coffins, but now the coffin lids of those iron coffins can't be held down anymore. You all watch carefully: there are no Japanese soldiers that our Special Company can't kill!"

Lin Fan held the mortar tube with his left hand and said to Zhao Long, "You come! Wu Xiaobao, get ready!"

Now the Japanese soldiers were still more than a thousand meters away from the position. All the soldiers of the Special Company could still lean up and stick their heads out.

They watched Zhao Long hold a shell with both hands and throw it into the mortar tube.

Wu Xiaobao held a shell with both hands and was already ready next to him.

Zhao Long had just retracted his hands, and the shell thrown into the tube had already whistled out.

The soldiers of the Special Company all looked at the direction the shell was flying.

Wu Xiaobao was no exception!

The more than 400 officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 542nd Regiment in the Four Banks Warehouse also tried to stick their heads out to see where the shell had landed.

However, no matter how long they stuck their bodies out, they could not see the landing point of the shell.

On the other hand, the observation posts and commanders on the roof could see it clearly.

Lin Fan shouted loudly to Wu Xiaobao, who was distracted by watching the shell fly out, "Load the shell! Zhao Long, get ready!"

Lin Fan had already adjusted the position of the tube. Wu Xiaobao came back to his senses and quickly and carefully threw the shell into the tube and took a step back.

He made way, and Zhao Long immediately stepped forward. After the company commander adjusted the position of the tube, he continued to throw the shell in.

In this way, the sound of shells exploding constantly rang out in the distance.

There was constant cheering from the soldiers on the roof.

The riverbank on the opposite side no longer had citizens watching. Instead, it was replaced by teams of American soldiers lying prone on the riverbank.

Those citizens who were watching the excitement and supporting the National Revolutionary Army had all been driven away.

Only the citizens who originally lived in the buildings on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek were still watching the battle.

Their cheers kept coming.

The soldiers of the Special Company saw the company commander's precise results and all stood up from the fortifications.

They no longer made any cover at all.

Only two people did not dare to be distracted at all now.

Wu Xiaobao and Zhao Long took turns throwing shells into the tube.

Lin Fan first destroyed the seven tanks, and then launched artillery fire at the Japanese infantry who were following behind the tanks and scrambling to find cover after seeing the tanks being destroyed.

Xie Jinyuan, Yang Ruifu, Lei Xiong, and the other company commanders, along with their signalmen, a total of more than 100 soldiers, stood on the roof and saw this incredible scene.

The Japanese tanks in the distance, which had been arrogant just now, were now all lying down.

They were squatting in place and not moving at all.

The tops of those tanks had been blown open with a hole.

The Japanese soldiers following behind the tanks were running around.

The shells falling from the air seemed to have eyes and always fell towards the places where the Japanese soldiers were gathered the most.

After more than a dozen shells smashed down, and seeing that there were no more Japanese soldiers around the seven completely destroyed tanks, Lin Fan ordered, "Everyone in the company, charge towards the location of those enemy tanks!"