Chapter 1 1937

Eight o'clock in the morning, November 12, 1937.

Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadaharu had just inspected the position of the 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment.

It was unrecognizable.

All twenty-four artillery pieces on the entire position had been reduced to scrap metal.

All the shells were gone.

There were no clues to be found on the position. In the artillery regiment's camp, he saw the disheveled Imperial soldiers lying dead in their barracks.

From this, it was clear that the hour and a half of artillery fire the previous night had not been the work of these Imperial soldiers.

They had already committed gyokusai (honorable suicide).

This made Ushijima Sadaharu feel a little better.

But this feeling was of no use at all.

Because the entire road was littered with the corpses of warhorses and soldiers.

As a division commander, he knew at a glance: two cavalry battalions and two infantry battalions were all here.

At least three thousand soldiers had died here, plus the artillery regiment and officers and soldiers from various units who had been killed by artillery fire.

Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadaharu felt a little dizzy. He struggled to hold onto the wall, which was riddled with bullet holes.

In a hoarse voice, he asked, "How many men do we have left?"

He didn't dare ask about the casualties.

The chief of staff beside him didn't understand his division commander's feelings at all. "Last night, our division suffered 5,600 casualties and 1,100 missing. Currently, the entire division has 10,000 combat-ready soldiers, and 1,500 medical and logistics personnel."

Knowing that he still had nearly ten thousand troops, but having advanced only five kilometers in the last few days with nine thousand casualties…

Ushijima Sadaharu himself could not accept such results.

"Order: all units continue to attack today without懈怠 (xie dai; slackening)."

The chief of staff was somewhat embarrassed. "There's no artillery support today."

"Request artillery guidance from the 114th Division," Ushijima Sadaharu said with difficulty.

They were both divisions; it was a bit embarrassing for one division to request artillery guidance from another.

But Ushijima Sadaharu no longer cared about these trivial matters.

He just wanted to capture Jiashan and Jiaxing as soon as possible.

Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadaharu personally reported to General Iwane Matsui that his division had been attacked by a mysterious force the previous night.

This force had used poison gas shells and a weapon made of iron pellets, massacring thousands of Imperial warriors.

He dared not fail to report such news.

However, General Iwane Matsui, commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, would never report this news back to the Imperial Army General Staff.

It would affect the judgment of those in the General Staff, who would once again restrict the Shanghai Expeditionary Force's offensive and pursuit.

Furthermore, such news would greatly dampen the spirits of the people in the Empire who were tightening their belts and living a difficult life.

Although they were not eating enough or wearing enough clothes every day, it did not prevent them from loving and supporting the Imperial soldiers.

Every victory and every piece of good news from the Imperial Army provided them with endless strength.

It allowed them to forget their fatigue and hunger. This crazy spiritual victory method was often the most effective way to deal with ordinary people.

Poison gas shells, iron pellets! A familiar method.

It immediately reminded Iwane Matsui of the force that Major Fujiwara Yuma was investigating.

These days, Fujiwara Yuma had been drilling his five hundred men every day. Suddenly, he received a personal phone call from Commander Iwane Matsui.

The commander only said two things on the phone: poison gas shells, iron pellets.

This immediately piqued all of Major Fujiwara Yuma's interest.

When he learned that the incident had occurred near Jiashan, at the 18th Division's garrison…

He immediately ordered the entire team to assemble. He was going to Jiashan!

Before departing, Major Fujiwara Yuma called Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadaharu and requested that the division commander keep the original arrangement as much as possible and not move.

He would rush to the battlefield as quickly as possible. He wanted to find that mysterious force.

The five-hundred-man team boarded two naval warships and quickly sailed towards Hangzhou Bay.

The Fujiwara Special Forces were going to land at Hangzhou Bay, which also included Major Fujiwara's intention to pay tribute to the Tenth Army.

Currently, the entire Empire, from the common people to the military, was vigorously promoting the Tenth Army's landing at Hangzhou Bay.

The history of landing here had been traced back to the history of the seventy-two warriors landing three hundred and seventy-eight years ago.

It made those people who didn't have enough to eat happy again: when the Empire won, life would get better.

Major Fujiwara Yuma also believed in this.

Gu Jiaqi thought that the Japanese devils' attack would be fierce, but he didn't expect that today, the Japanese devils' attack could no longer be described as fierce.

Today, the Japanese devils could be described as crazy.

They completely disregarded casualties and costs.

They just charged forward blindly.

In this situation, defensive battles and blocking battles should be the best.

Because the defending side always has some geographical advantages.

But this was really not an advantage for the 128th Division.

The entire 128th Division's weapons were all 土枪 (tu qiang; homemade guns), guns made by Phoenix Town itself.

Although they could also fire bullets, the speed and accuracy were worrying.

This was also why the officers and soldiers of the 128th Division liked close-quarters combat.

But people were not machines. Even if you sent ten thousand pigs for these soldiers to kill…

The officers and soldiers would get sore hands from hacking.

Besides, the Japanese devils were not pig heads after all.

The battle on the entire battlefield had been going on since morning, and the two sides were entangled together.

November 12 was a difficult day for both sides in the Jiaxing blocking battle.

Ushijima Sadaharu's 18th Division paid the price of two thousand soldiers' casualties before finally seeing the Wu-Jia Line defense line, known as the Eastern Maginot Line.

His troops had finally pushed the 128th Division into the fortresses on the defense line.

Now was the time for artillery guidance.

Fortunately, Lieutenant General Heisuke Yanagawa understood that the 18th Division had lost twenty-four cannons the previous night.

He specially expedited the delivery of twenty cannons that had been stranded on the coast.

Although they arrived a little late, the artillery quickly established their position.

Ushijima Sadaharu wouldn't let his artillery fire at night.

The Empire was not wealthy, and every shell needed to be valuable.

Firing at night, they couldn't see the effect and couldn't adjust, so they couldn't shoot.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Major Fujiwara Yuma landed at Hangzhou Bay, and he led his five-hundred-man team to Fengjingbin overnight.

Major Fujiwara Yuma didn't want to waste any time.

Now it was one o'clock in the morning of the next day.

Hou Bowen pointed ahead, bowing and scraping as he introduced to Major Fujiwara Yuma, "Taijun (respected officer)! After crossing this bridge, Fengjingbin is less than five li ahead."

Major Fujiwara Yuma encouraged him, "Hou-san! You are a good man, a very good man!"

Hou Bowen was a local that the Tenth Army Command introduced to Major Fujiwara Yuma after he landed.

It was said that this person had studied at the Imperial University.

After returning to China, he had served as an assistant county magistrate in the local government and had also opened a trading firm.

After learning that the Imperial Army had landed at Hangzhou Bay, he had specially sought them out to lead the way.

Major Fujiwara Yuma looked at the darkness ahead and asked, puzzled, "It's so dark, will Hou-san get lost?"

Hou Bowen bowed and scraped again, although in the dark night, this taijun could not see the flattering expression on his face.

But these actions must be complete.

Developing good habits, always having such a natural expression, could let the taijuns know his sincerity.

Hou Bowen lowered his head. "Taijun, you are wise: This humble one grew up in this place. This area, I can recognize the road even with my eyes closed.

In recent years, I have been working as a small assistant in the county, and I often travel around this area.

Everything I have done has been in preparation for today.

Taijun, rest assured, this road will definitely not be wrong."

Major Fujiwara Yuma looked at this traitor with satisfaction: a good man! A talent!

This kind of person must be cultivated well!

The five-hundred-man team he had been constantly drilling still had a lot of energy after such a long journey.

This finally made Fujiwara Yuma a little satisfied.

In the dark night, this team swaggered to the 56th Regiment camp of the 18th Division.

In the flickering light of the torches, the barracks ahead looked a little eerie.

Outside the barracks, in the fortifications and trenches, ghostly figures loomed.

At this time, of course, Hou Bowen ran to the front and shouted loudly, "Taijun! I am the guide, bringing Major Fujiwara!"

What responded to him was a series of gunshots!

Hou Bowen quickly ran back towards Major Fujiwara Yuma.

Then, the Japanese devils behind those trenches opened fire directly on the Fujiwara Special Forces in the distance without saying a word.

Fujiwara Yuma looked at Hou Bowen, who was still rushing towards him, with hatred: "This traitor actually led us to the front of the National Army's trenches."

He fired several shots in a row and knocked Hou Bowen down before ordering the team, "Fire back!"

The soldiers of the Special Company had been running around and fighting last night.

At that time, they were excited and didn't feel anything, but when they really relaxed, they felt tired.

This highlighted the strength of Niu Dongxing and the others.

These guerrillas had long been accustomed to such long-distance raids.

For them, it was common to raid hundreds of li in one night.

These forty members had slept for a few hours in the morning and had lunch as usual at noon.

Under Li Xian's organization, they started their organizational life.

At this meeting, everyone spoke actively.

Although they had only joined this company for five days, they had also felt the magic of this company.

Everyone was curious about the Special Company's combat methods and training methods.

What they admired most was the Special Company's approach to dealing with the Japanese devils' cavalry and infantry regiment last night.

Those who had not seen the power of the directional mines were all full of regret.

They were all complaining about why the Japanese devils had not come from the north and south directions.

There were too many bombs planted, and there weren't enough Japanese devils!

Li Xian's words made everyone laugh.

At this meeting, Niu Dongxing, Bao Junyan, He Hanliang, and others all spoke enthusiastically.

Compared with the strengths of the soldiers of the Special Company, they were all full of praise.

They all said that they would take the initiative to make friends with everyone and learn their skills.

Lin Fan attended the meeting as a nonvoting delegate. He only had the right to listen and did not have the right to speak.

However, being able to hear these newly arrived veterans put themselves in the right position…

Lin Fan still felt that the team's combat effectiveness would undergo a qualitative change in the days to come.

After three o'clock in the afternoon, all the soldiers of the Special Company were called up by Lin Fan.

Everyone first maintained their weapons and then carried out bayonet training.

The bayonet fight with the Japanese devils last night made the soldiers of the Special Company very excited.

They had already seen their advantage. Before joining the special forces, these soldiers had also fought bayonet battles with the Japanese devils in their respective teams.

Often, two or three National Army soldiers could not beat one Japanese devil.

Now, these people were not afraid at all in a one-on-one fight.

Lin Fan's request that everyone persevere every day was still very effective.

At Lin Fan's request, the forty newly joined members became the focus of help in bayonet training.

After an hour of bayonet training, it was aiming practice.

At this time, the forty newly joined members became the trainers of these veterans in the Special Company.

When it came to marksmanship, these forty people could leave these veterans far behind.

Even Liu Laopao, who didn't accept anyone, had to admit it.

The team had always been like this: words were useless without hard fists.

Marksmanship was also a kind of fist. On the battlefield, killing an enemy with one shot was completely different from scaring the enemy with ten shots.

Not to mention that when the entire Special Company encountered the enemy, the first round of shooting could hit one person for everyone, even if two or three people could hit one Japanese devil with the first shot.

The Japanese devils who came to attack would immediately lose their ability to attack and their morale.

Time passed quickly during training.

Li Xian went out this afternoon to buy some good food.

This time, everyone was disappointed. The battle had reached this point.

The ordinary people had all hid in the countryside.

Now, the soldiers of the Special Company could only eat canned meat.

Lin Fan watched Ji Wudi eat the canned food with one bite and then leave it. He tapped her bowl lightly. "What are you thinking about? Finish it all!"

Lin Fan's theory of "eating your fill" was known to everyone in the Special Company.

The forty newly arrived backbones all knew it.

Ji Wudi glanced at Lin Fan. "This taste is too strong. I can't eat it."

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Even if you can't eat it, you have to eat it.

Think about the first time your three siblings ate this. You couldn't wait to eat it as a meal."

Ji Wudi lowered her head and slowly started eating. "I know, the ability to 'eat your fill' is the ability to fight.

I'm thinking about how young Zhu Dicheng still is!"

Lin Fan didn't know how to comfort her. He knew that an even greater tragedy was still to come.

He could only gently comfort her and say, "We have already avenged them."

Ji Wudi, "She's already dead!"

"We killed thousands of Japanese devils last night!"

"She's already dead!"

Lin Fan had no way to deal with it now.

There was no way to pull a woman back when she was stuck on something.

On the twelfth day, the Special Company had been resting all day.

In the evening, Li Xian's literacy class continued.

This was Lin Fan's request. Unless they were in battle, the literacy class could not be stopped.

Learning was like sailing against the current; if you didn't advance, you would retreat!

Diligence is the path to the mountains of books; hardship is the boat for the seas of learning!

These were all the things that Lin Fan's parents and teachers had said the most when he was a child.

Now, it was finally Lin Fan's turn to say it to these one hundred people in the Special Company.

When this happened to him when he was a child, Lin Fan was extremely painful at the time.

All the other children were playing in the yard, but he was sitting miserably by the window doing homework while watching the other children play happily.

As a result, he didn't finish his homework, and he didn't get to play.

Later, the other children didn't take him with them when they played.

Now, looking at these one hundred heads, everyone was studying seriously, and there was only excitement on their faces.

There was no look of pain!

Was this world different?

Could learning really make people happy?

Lin Fan didn't know. He quietly asked Ji Wudi, who was not in the literacy class, "Does learning make people happy?"

Ji Wudi opened her big eyes and asked, puzzled, "Aren't you?"

One sentence made Lin Fan flee in panic.

Ji Wudi suddenly laughed and followed behind Lin Fan, accompanying him on patrol.

The night of the twelfth was a peaceful night.

On this night, the Special Company did not move, and the 128th Division did not move.

The Japanese devils attacking on the opposite side did not move either.

Everyone could finally rest well.

This was just Lin Fan's and the Special Company's idea.

In fact, on this night, the 18th Division, the 114th Division, and the Sato Detachment of the Japanese army, which had been ordered to occupy Jiaxing, could not fall asleep.

All the soldiers were on standby, and they had all received orders: they must be closely defended, and the task force was not allowed to move at night.

Any Imperial team that appeared around the camp was disguised by the enemy.

They could open fire directly without asking questions.

At the same time, these three troops had deployed heavy troops around their respective artillery positions.

The three of them were all afraid that the incident of the 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment last night would be repeated.

Fujiwara Yuma didn't know all of this. After killing the guide…

He was leading his five-hundred-man team to attack the team in front of him that had shot at him.

The Fujiwara Special Forces had been training for so long, and it was time to test them in actual combat.

The combat effectiveness of this team was of course extraordinary. Coupled with Major Fujiwara Yuma's sharpshooting skills, he first took out the machine gun fire on the opposite side.

Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadaharu, commander of the 18th Division in Fengjingbin, was anxious when he heard the gunfire in the distance.

The mysterious team from last night had changed its direction of attack again today.

It seemed that they also knew that he would strengthen the protection of the artillery positions tonight, so they changed their target.

From the phone call from the 3rd Battalion of the 56th Regiment, he learned that the enemy's attack was fierce and the tactics were ruthless.

This completely confirmed the combat effectiveness of that mysterious team.

Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadaharu personally ordered the 3rd Battalion of the 56th Regiment: defend in place, guard the defense line, and do not attack.

At the same time, Ushijima Sadaharu also informed the various teams under his division of the situation and ordered them not to move.

If they encountered any disturbance, they should shoot immediately without hesitation.

The 18th Division also immediately notified the 114th Division and the Sato Detachment of the 56th Regiment's 3rd Battalion being attacked.

They were told to be prepared to prevent the National Army from being disguised as Imperial troops and launching a sneak attack.

The battle on the battlefield was not very fierce from the beginning.