Chapter 1 The War Drags On

This war, originally planned for only three months, had already dragged on for a year and a half. In this situation, the Japanese devils had long since lost all semblance of decency.

In this situation, they desperately wanted to save face!

Although the decision of the Naval General Staff was strongly opposed by the Army General Staff. The Army General Staff believed that rather than spending so much money to rebuild a naval fleet, it would be better to arm five more divisions and throw them into the war.

But the Japanese homeland was surrounded by the sea. From top to bottom, they attached far more importance to the navy than the army. Therefore, the army's opposition was ineffective!

Commander Koichi Shiozawa, still in shock inside the underground tunnels of the Humen Fortress, received a top-secret telegram from the homeland. This telegram could only be opened by him personally.

This made Commander Koichi Shiozawa's face turn pale, and he trembled all over. Today, he had directed the entire Fifth Fleet to the bottom of the sea. He would certainly have to bear the responsibility for this.

Commander Taichi Shiraishi of the Humen Fortress gestured slightly, and all the staff officers and Japanese soldiers in the operations command center withdrew from the room.

Commander Taichi Shiraishi was a considerate Japanese. He was giving Commander Koichi Shiozawa a final bit of dignity.

When Commander Koichi Shiozawa was the only one left in the operations command center, his heart was ashen, and he had already prepared to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) to atone for his crime.

Only then did he open the telegram with trembling hands. When he saw the contents of the telegram, he suddenly burst out laughing.

Like a dying man, suddenly grabbing a straw: "Hehehe! Hahaha!"

All the Japanese waiting outside, hearing the sudden laughter, knew that the next sound should be a gunshot.

This sound now should be Commander Koichi Shiozawa's final despair. Originally, he should have stayed on the "Myoko" flagship.

No captain can leave his ship during a shipwreck, and similarly, no naval commander can fail to stand on the bow when his warship sinks.

Commander Koichi Shiozawa, who had survived for a few hours, could feel the deep-seated contempt in the eyes of all the Japanese looking at him.

But now he didn't care: The Naval General Staff had issued him the latest instructions two hours after the complete annihilation of the Fifth Fleet.

"The Fifth Fleet has not sunk, they are intact! You must firmly answer this to anyone, Commander Koichi Shiozawa!"

That was enough! Commander Koichi Shiozawa knew that his life was saved, and not only that, but his position was also very secure!

At least until the new fleet took over, he was needed to stand up and publicize this monstrous lie to the world.

Commander Koichi Shiozawa was already thinking: How could he prove to those reporters that the Fifth Fleet was intact?

This was a difficult problem! But no matter how difficult, it was still easier than the last few hours he had just endured.

Half an hour had passed since Commander Koichi Shiozawa's laughter, but the familiar gunshot had not yet been heard, nor were any other sounds coming out.

This made Commander Taichi Shiraishi, who had been waiting to clean up the operations room, and the other Japanese very depressed: They knew that Commander Koichi Shiozawa was afraid of death, but they didn't expect him to be so afraid of death.

Half an hour had passed, and he still hadn't taken action to end it.

Commander Taichi Shiraishi looked back at the two Japanese holding stretchers and white cloths, and said kindly: "We have to give him some time, after all, he came down from the warship."

The subtext clearly expressed his contempt: A coward who came down from the warship.

Commander Koichi Shiozawa had already decided: He would hold a press conference in Guangzhou to announce the itinerary of the Fifth Fleet. They would all be transferred to Wan Dao (Taiwan).

In this way, they could completely avoid the crowds in Guangzhou. After all, the people in Wan Dao were much more docile: After decades, those who dared to resist had been purged again and again, and very few were left.

With the plan decided, Commander Koichi Shiozawa opened the door of the operations command center with a happy face and walked out.

When he saw the situation in the corridor, his happy expression suddenly turned gloomy.

The two Japanese in the corridor, carrying stretchers and white cloths, looked at Commander Koichi Shiozawa, who should have been dead, walking out, and asked in surprise: "You're not dead yet?"

One sentence evoked all of Commander Koichi Shiozawa's grievances and humiliation today. He strode forward and slapped hard!

He understood what these Japanese meant by standing in the corridor: They were all Japanese who were hoping for his death!

These Japanese were really too bad. They weren't thinking about his well-being at all, but were thinking about his death.

Sergeant Yuto Yamashima felt very wronged: I came here with good intentions to collect your body, and I was treated like this.

It was so, so unfair!

But the rank of the person slapping him was already a lieutenant general, which was many ranks higher than his sergeant.

Sergeant Yuto Yamashima should feel honored to be slapped by a naval lieutenant general in person!

The honored Sergeant Yuto Yamashima had been beaten dizzy and could no longer stand. He fainted to the ground with a "thump," and now the stretcher he was holding was finally useful.

Commander Koichi Shiozawa's palm was throbbing faintly, and he had to let go of the other Japanese holding the white cloth.

Having just vented his anger on this Japanese, he felt much better.

Commander Koichi Shiozawa couldn't show the contents of the telegram to Commander Taichi Shiraishi, but Taichi Shiraishi was originally his subordinate. Commander Koichi Shiozawa called Taichi Shiraishi into the operations command center.

The first sentence he said to him made the Japanese not understand: "The Fifth Fleet is unharmed! It exists forever."

"Will it always live in our hearts?" Commander Taichi Shiraishi asked in confusion.

"Baga (idiot)! The Fifth Fleet has never been damaged. Everything that happened this morning never happened. You idiot, don't you understand?"

Commander Taichi Shiraishi now understood: Self-deception!

"Hai (yes)! The Fifth Fleet will always exist! There was no bombing! No casualties! No sinking!" Commander Taichi Shiraishi said immediately.

"Yoshi (good)! The Fifth Fleet left Humen Pier last night and went to Wan Dao to carry out a maritime blockade mission. You understand?" Commander Koichi Shiozawa was very pleased. His subordinate finally understood the empire's strategic intentions.

"Hai!" Commander Taichi Shiraishi stood at attention and answered.

"You! Not only must you understand, but you must also let all the Japanese in the fortress know: The Fifth Fleet is in Wan Dao!

This is not a military secret, you can talk about it more to the outside world, and you must let the whole world know: The Fifth Fleet is stationed in Wan Dao!"

"Hai! Let the whole world know that the Fifth Fleet is in Wan Dao!" Taichi Shiraishi repeated.

Being so sensible made Commander Koichi Shiozawa very pleased. He nodded and said, "Tell the cook to send some food!"

Today, he had been living in great fear and had not even been in the mood to eat lunch.

Now that he was in a relaxed mood, he finally felt hungry. Commander Koichi Shiozawa even wanted to have some sake and call some geishas to perform to increase the atmosphere.

Huang Hongda had been the commander of Quanzhou Airport for three years and six months. In those three and a half years, his airport had been visited by Japanese planes countless times.

Before 1937, Japanese planes only came to show off their power and reconnaissance. From August 1937, Japanese planes would fly here every ten days or half a month and drop bombs depending on their mood.

Sometimes they would just fly over at low altitude and run away. Sometimes they would drop a few bombs on the airport without any planes, or drop bombs on the airport command post and run away.

The planes at the airport had been transferred away at the beginning of the battle. At that time, Huang Hongda naively thought that those planes would soon return and launch an attack on the Japanese devils stationed on the opposite shore.

A year and a half had passed, and the counterattack was nowhere in sight. Chiang Kai-shek had fled from Nanjing to Wuhan, and then to Chongqing.

In the past year or so, Huang Hongda had not seen any Nationalist planes at all. Japanese planes were often seen, and they were always promoting their existence over Quanzhou.

Although this was an airport without planes, everything at the airport was still maintained in a state of readiness for use.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Huang Hongda received an order from Gu Zhutong, the commander of the Third War Zone: The airport was to be opened to the Special Operations Brigade that was about to arrive. He was to prepare to refuel the incoming planes and be ready!

This was the first time in a year and a half that planes were preparing to come. Although he didn't know what the mission of these suddenly arriving planes was.

Huang Hongda was still excited, and he immediately summoned his subordinates to start arranging tasks.

First, he ordered Zhang Zhixin, the company commander of the guard company, to be on alert from now on, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the entire camp.

Then, he ordered Qu Yanghui, the director of the oil depot, to immediately prepare to refuel the planes, ordered Gu Zhengxian to prepare to direct the planes to land, and Shen Wu to prepare to guide the planes after they landed.

Qu Yanghui asked nervously: "How many planes are coming? Are we going to bomb the other side?"

Huang Hongda laughed: "Bombing the other side? How is that possible? Does the Nationalist army still have that kind of strength now?

Maybe they're just passing by! Anyway, just be prepared!"

"But commander! You also know that if fuel is stored for a long time, it will evaporate and be consumed naturally. If too many planes come, we may not have enough fuel here."

"Isn't there still 2,000 tons of gasoline on the books?" Huang Hongda asked.

Gu Zhengxian saw that the commander was about to get angry and quickly said, "The oil will evaporate. Now there may actually be less than 300 tons of oil."

He quickly said: "Commander! This is a godsend opportunity! No matter how many planes come this time, we can write off all the losses together."

Huang Hongda knew how the oil had "evaporated". They were guarding here every day, and they were unbearably lonely.

And there were their parents, wives, and children. In such a time of national crisis, how could they not prepare more gold bars?

These people could only rely on the mountains if they lived near the mountains, and rely on the water if they lived near the water. Like the airport they were guarding, there wasn't a single plane. There was no possibility of using a plane to transport some private goods.

They could only eat their savings. It was already very dedicated that they had only 300 tons of oil left and hadn't added water to it.

Huang Hongda also knew that he had gotten the lion's share of the missing gasoline.

He no longer pursued the matter: "No matter what, we must guarantee the safety of the planes that come this time!"

Gu Zhengxian breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Commander, don't worry! I guarantee you'll be satisfied! This Special Operations Brigade can only send five planes at most."

As he was saying this, the Special Operations maneuvering fighter group had already taken off.

More than an hour later, Mao Wenxing and Guan Guohao's fighter squadron and a fleet of five bombers were circling over Quanzhou Airport. Gu Xingxian was in the control tower watching so many planes in the air.

He was already so surprised that he couldn't speak. He didn't dare to object to the request for landing that came over the radio.

The first to land were two bombers. As soon as the planes stopped, more than two hundred fully armed soldiers rushed out of them.

Shen Wu, who was standing on the runway directing the planes, quickly pointed out the way when facing Shi Junxia's inquiries. He pointed out all the locations of the airport's oil depot, control tower, and command post.

Soon, these soldiers rushed towards the locations he pointed out.

Zhang Zhixin, the company commander of the guard company, had a friendly exchange with Shi Junxia, the company commander: Company Commander Shi didn't mean to disarm them. He just wanted to control the high ground to prevent accidents.

After Company Commander Shi reported "Safe!" the three bombers still circling in the air also landed.

The five bombers gathered together, and they were transferring bombs to each other. The first two bombers had not loaded bombs in order to transport a company to protect the airport.

Now they had to transfer the bombs from the other three bombers. They were also going to participate in the upcoming battle.

As for the fighters circling in the air, the first batch had already landed and were going to the oil depot to refuel.

Director Qu Yanghui, who had originally thought that five planes at most would be amazing, now had forty-two planes, and his heart was filled with terror.

The oil depot, which had 2,000 tons of fuel on the books, actually had less than 200 tons.

He asked Guan Guohao, who came to refuel, with a headache: "Officer! Do so many of your fighters need to refuel?"

Guan Guohao said with a smile: "We're just the vanguard. The main force is behind! There are more than seventy planes that will land and refuel later."

Hearing him say this, Director Qu Yanghui's legs suddenly went weak: "A hundred planes refueling, there's not enough oil in his oil depot!"

Guan Guohao saw that his face was wrong and immediately asked: "How much oil do you have here?"

"Two thousand tons!" Qu Yanghui said quickly.

"That's good! It's enough for us to fill up! The bomber group won't come to refuel. This time, it's just the fighters refueling to go to the other side and let the Japanese have a taste of our bombs." Guan Guohao intentionally said the plan.

Qu Yanghui's face turned even paler, and his whole body began to tremble. The Nationalist soldiers listening to their conversation were also pale and trembling.

They all knew: "There definitely isn't enough oil here to refuel a hundred fighters. What should we do?"

Qu Yanghui was now really regretting: He shouldn't have sold that hundred tons of oil last month!

But it was too late to regret it now! Guan Guohao saw that these people's faces turned pale and their bodies trembled when they heard that he was going to bomb the other side, and he immediately understood.

He pulled out his pistol, took a step back, and shouted loudly: "Are you traitors?"

His voice was loud, and immediately Jiri Quan, the platoon leader who was on guard here, rushed up with several soldiers, aiming their submachine guns at these Nationalist soldiers: "Raise your hands!"

Director Qu Yanghui quickly raised his hands: "Officer! I'm not a traitor! We're not traitors!"

"Why is your face pale?"

"Because there's not enough oil in the oil depot!"

"Why is your whole body trembling?"

"The oil in the oil depot was sold by us!"

"How much oil is there in the oil depot?"

"One hundred tons, or ninety tons, at least eighty tons. There are definitely eighty tons of oil." Qu Yanghui reported the number in a trembling voice.

Guan Guohao was furious: "When we contacted you, you said there were two thousand tons. You don't even have a fraction of that here. Delaying military operations is a capital crime!"

He was just saying that. These people were under the management of the Third War Zone. As long as they didn't resist, there was no reason for the Special Operations Brigade to take action.

Guan Guohao could only report this matter to Lin Fan. Lin Fan, who was still en route piloting the bomber, pondered for a moment when he heard this situation and ordered: "Fill up your squadron, and the air squadron behind you, fill up halfway.

Order Shi Junxia and the others to prepare to go to Wan Dao Airport. We're going to control a Japanese airport in Wan Dao and prepare to refuel there.

At the same time, let the people from the Quanzhou Airport oil depot go to Wan Dao with the First Company to refuel our planes there."

"Yes!" Guan Guohao heard Lin Fan's order.

Lin Fan also repeated this order to Mao Wenxing. His plane, which had been modified from a bomber, had been refueled and was circling in the air directing.

At this time, Shi Junxia was originally standing on the control tower with Huang Hongda, watching the fighters circling and flying in the air, and one fighter after another landing from the air.

Huang Hongda looked at the scene he had dreamed of seeing, but his heart was full of bitterness: So many planes need to refuel! I hope nothing goes wrong at the oil depot!

At this moment, he saw a soldier carrying a large box with an antenna on his back come in and hand the microphone to Company Commander Shi.

Company Commander Shi took the microphone and only listened to a few words. The expression on his face changed from serious to excited.

After putting down the microphone, he looked at Huang Hongda meaningfully: "Commander Huang! Let's not beat around the bush! There isn't 2,000 tons of oil in your oil depot at all. Don't say 2,000 tons, there isn't even 100 tons of oil.

You are under the management of the Third War Zone, and it is not reasonable for our Special Operations Brigade to interfere, and we are not interested in interfering.

But because there is not enough oil here, our planes cannot fly back, and we have to risk going to the Japanese airport to refuel.

Is it okay to ask you for a few people to help out at the Japanese airport?"

When Huang Hongda heard the first two sentences that Company Commander Shi said, he was already disheartened. He didn't expect that Qu Yanghui was still not telling the truth just now. He said there were 200 tons, but in reality, there wasn't even 100 tons.

Hearing that Company Commander Shi didn't mean to report to his superiors, he felt that he had come back to life, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice: "I don't know who Company Commander Shi wants to help?"