Chapter 1 The Darkness Before Dawn

The darkness before dawn always passes, and these Japanese devils of Nakajima Ayumu's secondary team had never hoped for the darkness to pass faster than they did today.

They wished they could grab a chain and drag the sun out from below the horizon.

The warriors of the Third and Fifth Regiments had the same idea. Darkness concealed the Japanese bodies, despite the illumination rounds constantly rising into the air.

After all, it wasn't as clear as seeing in the sunlight. Darkness finally receded slowly in the shared anticipation of both sides.

Light gradually seeped out from the east, becoming brighter and brighter.

After the veil of night was lifted, Nakajima Ayumu, the squadron commander, gasped in horror: the ambush was only a hundred meters away from the road, on both the left and right sides.

At this point, he regretted his earlier anticipation: under these circumstances, it would be better if the sky remained dark.

No wonder the entire squadron was being picked off like targets after the first wave of explosions.

The sky grew brighter, and Nakajima Ayumu could see the fortifications opposite more clearly.

If it had remained dark, and he hadn't been able to see clearly, Nakajima wouldn't have felt anything.

But when he saw the fortifications set up by the ambushers, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Those cunning people on the other side had actually used sandbags to build up the trenches, and their guns were sticking out of the firing holes.

For so long, his entire squadron had fired so many bullets, sacrificing so many brave warriors, but all the bullets had just been swallowed by the earth.

Nakajima Ayumu felt that if they had managed to hit even ten enemy soldiers, it would be a blessing from Amaterasu.

Nakajima Ayumu was so enraged by this sudden realization that he vomited blood. His subordinates, the Japanese soldiers, understood perfectly well that all their counterattacks since the ambush had been a joke.

They hadn't even managed to injure a single hair on the enemy's heads. The Japanese soldiers of the entire Nakajima squadron had been marching urgently all the way from Xuzhou, and they were still in the midst of an adrenaline rush.

These Japanese soldiers were still quite focused. Although they had been under attack for so long, all their efforts had been in vain.

But these Japanese soldiers could still persevere and continue to fight.

Nakajima Ayumu discovered that the distance between the two sides was only a mere hundred meters, and immediately ordered, "Miyamoto Shinichi's company, attack immediately!"

Upon receiving the order to attack, Miyamoto Shinichi immediately led more than seventy Japanese soldiers towards the trenches a hundred meters away.

Yesterday, when his company left Xuzhou city, it was at full strength, with a total of one hundred and eighty-four Japanese soldiers.

Some of these soldiers had been knocked down by the explosions earlier, and others had been shot down in the ensuing battle. Now, only seventy or so were still able to stand up and charge.

Nakajima Ayumu and Nakadai Jiro, the battalion commander, stared nervously at the dozens of Japanese soldiers who charged out.

They were both clear that Miyamoto Shinichi's company was charging out to test the enemy's strength and firepower.

If these dozens of soldiers could charge onto the opposite position in one go and occupy it,

then the entire Nakadai battalion could launch a full-scale attack, and then the entire squadron could launch a comprehensive offensive.

It could be said that the survival of the entire Nakajima squadron depended on Miyamoto Shinichi's company's charge.

Obviously, the Japanese soldiers of Miyamoto Shinichi's company did not understand the significance of their charge this time.

After seeing the current situation clearly, they did not have the idea of fighting to the death when encountering each other on a narrow road.

Platoon Leader Nagasawa Akito was one such example. In the year he spent maintaining order in Beiping, he had completely squandered all his previous courage.

A year of indulgence in sensual pleasures, coupled with visits to various nightclubs and pleasure houses, had long accustomed Nagasawa Akito to a life of being surrounded by beautiful women and fine wine.

Nagasawa Akito was very dissatisfied that his platoon was part of the first charge after dawn.

This dissatisfaction manifested itself after the team started charging. Platoon Leader Nagasawa Akito, who should have been charging at the front, was actually at the very back of the entire platoon.

This seriously affected the morale of the entire platoon's charge, and in turn, even the dozens of Japanese soldiers in Miyamoto Shinichi's entire company charged slower and slower.

When they had charged less than fifty meters, these Japanese soldiers were already prostrate on the ground, slowly firing forward.

The Japanese soldiers of Miyamoto Shinichi's company had actually stopped, no longer continuing their charge!

This greatly infuriated Company Commander Miyamoto Shinichi. The saber in his hand was waving, and it had been pointing forward just now.

Now, he didn't know which subordinate he should strike to motivate these Japanese soldiers to charge forward.

Just as his saber was still raised, a bullet flew from somewhere, completely liberating Company Commander Miyamoto Shinichi.

He no longer needed to choose how to establish his authority, nor did he need to pay attention to Battalion Commander Nakadai Jiro's urging.

Company Commander Miyamoto Shinichi was dead, and the Japanese soldiers of the entire company were relieved. They no longer needed to consider whether or not to stand up and continue charging.

With the company commander dead, the platoon leader could stand up and continue to command. Platoon Leader Nagasawa Akito clearly had no intention of standing up to command.

He was very clear: at such a close distance, as long as the opposing Nationalist soldiers discovered the commander, they would definitely kill him first.

Company Commander Miyamoto didn't understand this, so he died. I understand this, so I'm still alive.

Nakajima Ayumu and Nakadai Jiro exchanged glances. They had not expected the team to become like this.

What could Nakajima Ayumu do in this situation?

Call for help!

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake, who had just gotten off the train, received a telegram from Nakajima Ayumu: "My squadron arrived at Lilou at 5:30 a.m., less than ten miles from Zhao Village.

Ambushed by unknown troops, the entire squadron suffered more than half casualties and is still surrounded. Our army is actively organizing a breakout, and we hope for guidance from the air squadron."

Just after setting foot on the land of Xuzhou, he received such a message. Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake staggered.

Fortunately, the guards beside him were quick-witted and grabbed him, preventing the brigade commander from falling to the ground.

"Go to the command post!" Inoue Munetake ordered after finally stabilizing himself.

What followed him was the last force of the entire brigade. Adding these forces together did not even equal the combat power of an infantry squadron.

Although an infantry regiment from the Independent Fourth Brigade also came with him, wouldn't it mean his brigade was incompetent if he really used this regiment?

Entering the Xuzhou City Defense Headquarters were not only Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake, but also Brigade Commander Saito Takeo of the Independent Fourth Infantry Brigade, Commander Manda Yuto of the 17th Brigade stationed in Xuzhou, and Commander Ruan Lesheng of the 37th Puppet Army.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake suppressed his anger and began to learn about the situation of the opponent on the battlefield a hundred miles away from Xuzhou.

Brigade Commander Manda Yuto was also very unhappy: What was the Xuzhou Task Force doing? Sending out a squadron,

but one after another, they requested support. If they continued to fight like this, and the Lunan Detachment saw the emptiness of Xuzhou, how would he be able to defend it?

Regarding the information that Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake needed, Manda Yuto still gave a detailed introduction: In general, there were three anti-Japanese forces hidden outside Xuzhou City.

One force was the Lunan Detachment, which was fighting the Empire, with about 20,000 people. One force was the regular army left behind by the Nationalist Army to fight guerrilla warfare, with about 50,000 people. One force was the local bandits, with an unknown specific number.

"What kind of team is the Lunan Detachment?" Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake had never taken an enemy team so seriously as he did today.

"They occupy more than twenty county towns, and bandit activities are not allowed in their territory. That's all we know," Brigade Commander Manda Yuto could only introduce this.

"Who is their leader? What kind of organization do they have?" Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake asked through gritted teeth.

"Their organization is all regiments, and the regiment commander is called Gu Xiuming. There is only one name, and there is no other information.

In addition, there are several other regiment commanders, some called Shan Huacan and some called An Ping."

"They are all regiment commanders? Who is in command?" Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was very strange.

"It is said that Gu Xiuming is in command, and the other regiment commanders may just be his aliases," Brigade Commander Manda Yuto was not sure either.

"How is your intelligence work done? You haven't collected any information about the leader of a team of tens of thousands of people." Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was angry.

"They seem to have suddenly emerged. There was no such person before.

Our intelligence personnel who were sent out in the past paid attention to the intelligence of officers above the Nationalist Army regiment level.

So there is no information about these people. After they established a base, we sent out more than a hundred intelligence personnel, all of whom were like clay cows entering the sea, and no news came out at all.

The information I just said was still said by some merchants who had been to the Lunan base." Brigade Commander Manda Yuto was also very helpless.

"What is the situation in Zhao Village now? How many people did the Lunan Detachment mobilize? What kind of weapons and equipment do they have?" Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake continued to prompt.

"I don't know! I'm not sure! I don't understand!" The answer of not knowing anything was very standard.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake suppressed his anger that was about to erupt: "What about the locals near Zhao Village and Lilou? Wouldn't it be clear if you just found someone to ask?"

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Brigade Commander Manda Yuto was also full of anger.

He said loudly: "You are incompetent yourselves. A squadron can't even beat a guerrilla team, and you have also implicated the entire air squadron in Xuzhou in being wiped out.

Instead of summing up why your team's combat effectiveness is so low, you come here to point fingers.

The people in the Lunan Detachment have a very good relationship with the common people, and our people can't get any news from the villagers' mouths at all.

Moreover, many of those villagers hold various guns. If our people enter the village in small numbers, they will disappear for no reason."

Obviously, Brigade Commander Manda Yuto's momentum suppressed Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake at once.

He asked: "Is the current situation so bad? Are you sitting idly by?"

Brigade Commander Manda Yuto said coldly: "It's all the incompetence of the front line. Originally, Brigade Commander Sora Tani and I were clearing these guerrillas in front of Zhao Village.

Tianji'an had an accident, and Brigade Commander Sora Tani was urgently transferred to reinforce it. All the brigades urgently withdrew.

The Fukagawa Brigade was surrounded by the Lunan Detachment in Huangtu Ridge, and the reinforcement of Tianji'an failed again.

Now the defense forces in Xuzhou are empty, and Commander Terauchi Hisaichi formed the Xuzhou Task Force.

As a result, you have disappointed me too much. Did you feed all your previous training to the dogs?

An infantry squadron was beaten so badly that it had to call for reinforcements, and now the second infantry squadron is surrounded again.

Don't even talk about rescuing the Fukagawa Brigade, you can't even protect yourselves. Have you guys trained at all this year?"

This was Brigade Commander Manda Yuto's soul-searching question.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was speechless. He really didn't know how to answer, and his brigade's training had indeed been relaxed this year.

Army Commander Wan Lesheng of the Puppet 37th Army saw that the atmosphere was awkward and stood up to relieve the siege, saying: "Brigade Commander Inoue maintains order in Beiping, maybe he doesn't have time to train."

"Shut up!" The three brigade commanders scolded at the same time.

In front of the Japanese devils, the puppet army had no human rights. Wan Lesheng thought that he was the puppet army commander and should have some right to speak.

He never expected that as soon as he opened his mouth, he would be scolded by the three Japanese devils in unison.

This was a bit of an insult to his self-esteem. Fortunately, his self-esteem had no bottom line at all. If it was hurt this time, he could continue to lower it.

Wan Lesheng, who was scolded by the three brigade commanders, still had an awkward smile on his face and slowly sat down.

He finally understood his position in this room, which was to be a decoration. Not a single Japanese devil was willing to listen to his speech.

After his interruption, Brigade Commanders Inoue Munetake and Manda Yuto finally calmed down.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake asked: "No matter what, the Fukagawa Brigade in Huangtu Ridge, the Aso Squadron in Zhao Village, and the Nakajima Squadron in Lilou all need to be rescued.

I suggest that we immediately organize a joint detachment to rescue them."

He had already learned a little bit of the situation from Brigade Commander Manda Yuto, and his original arrogant attitude had completely changed.

He wanted to be cautious, fearing that one of the regiments of the Saito Takeo Brigade would be trapped again, so he wanted to ask Manda Yuto to send out a regiment to dispatch troops together.

Brigade Commander Manda Yuto immediately refused: "No! No! Impossible! Last time, in order to rescue the Fukagawa Brigade,

my brigade has already lost an infantry brigade. Originally, there were two independent mixed brigades defending Xuzhou.

Now there is only my brigade left, and it is still a brigade with one less infantry battalion.

None of the Japanese devils under my command can be dispatched."

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake coldly ordered Wan Lesheng: "Your team, send a division over."

Wan Lesheng's team lost two infantry regiments last time, which was actually the number of half a division.

If a division is transferred this time, his puppet army commander should be called a puppet brigade commander.

Wan Lesheng turned his pleading gaze to Manda Yuto. His Puppet 37th Army's mission was to defend Xuzhou. If it was transferred, it would also be detrimental to Manda Yuto.

Brigade Commander Manda Yuto said coldly: "His team cannot be transferred either. We need them to defend Xuzhou."

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake could only turn his gaze to Brigade Commander Saito Takeo.

He hoped that Brigade Commander Saito could lead his team out of the city immediately to rescue the Nakajima Squadron and the Aso Squadron in Lilou, considering that they were both Japanese devils.

Brigade Commander Saito Takeo had been listening just now. He secretly rejoiced that he had come along.

Otherwise, Squadron Commander Shochiku Fumio would have been suppressed by Brigade Commander Inoue, and the entire squadron would have set off immediately.

Now, of course, he could not let his squadron set off immediately.

Brigade Commander Saito Takeo said slowly: "I suggest: wait until the entire Xuzhou Task Force's follow-up team has arrived before setting off."

Hearing him say this, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was immediately angry: "My two infantry squadrons are struggling in the artillery fire.

How can you watch from the sidelines?"

"Please let Commander Yamao decide!" Brigade Commander Saito Takeo coldly dropped a sentence and left.

Commander Yamao Jiro was holding the telegrams sent by the two brigade commanders in his hand.

He was also very hesitant: to save or not to save? This was not a question, he must save them.

But Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake requested to set off immediately, and Brigade Commander Saito Takeo requested that the Xuzhou Task Force speed up the transportation of troops, not only sending the entire Independent Mixed Fourth Brigade to Xuzhou, but also sending the Fourth Cavalry Brigade as well, and then set off to Lilou to rescue the Nakajima Squadron.

The reason was very sufficient: the lessons of the past must be guarded against!

Yes! Lessons from the past! Commander Yamao Jiro remembered that when he accepted the mission from the Commander of the North China Front Army, he had clearly guaranteed that the entire task force must act together.

"What made me change my mind?"

Was it the insufficient transportation capacity of the train? Or the emergency rescue of the Fukagawa Brigade, or Brigade Commander Inoue's obstinacy?

Now Commander Yamao Jiro regretted it too much. He regretted it!

Thinking of this, Commander Yamao Jiro finally made up his mind: the entire Xuzhou Task Force would set off after everyone had arrived in Xuzhou.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake, who received the order, locked himself in the room and never dared to go out again.

On the other hand, Brigade Commander Saito Takeo took the officers of the Shochiku Fumio Squadron to the welcome banquet held by Brigade Commander Manda Yuto.

This time, Brigade Commander Manda Yuto had put his heart into the banquet. Brigade Commander Saito Takeo, who had come from Beiping, felt that the serving ladies at the banquet were particularly good.

The Commander of the Xuzhou Task Force, Yamao Jiro, who was still in Beiping, could no longer endure the five trains allocated to him every day.

This time, the train dispatch suddenly changed its attitude, and it could actually send all the remaining Japanese devils and equipment of the entire task force away tomorrow.

This was because Terauchi Hisaichi, the Commander of the North China Front Army, learned that the two infantry squadrons of the Third Independent Mixed Brigade were surrounded and were in danger of being wiped out at any time.

He had no choice but to request the Army Headquarters with an unusually strong attitude: Please, politicians in the country, save the Japanese devils!

If the follow-up team of the Xuzhou Task Force could not arrive in Xuzhou quickly, a full brigade of Japanese devils would be wiped out by the Nationalist Army.

It was because of this that Yamao Jiro had the opportunity to get the entire team on the train at once.

What happened in Xuzhou and Beiping was completely unknown to the Nakajima Squadron Commander, who was still in the middle of the battlefield.

He and Battalion Commander Nakadai Jiro were still testing the next breakout.

This time, he didn't have to be embarrassed, because Brigade Commander Takahashi Hayato had ordered the Tadoshi Twenty-Three Squad to do the same test.

The Tadoshi Twenty-Three Squad was obviously lucky, and a small team was still able to have more than thirty Japanese devils left.

Tadoshi, the leader of the Twenty-Three Squad, bravely launched an offensive towards the Third Regiment's position not far away, leading these more than thirty Japanese devils.

From the time they started charging, all the machine guns and rifles on the opposite side were firing at this group of Japanese devils.

The dense bullets caused the Japanese devils in this squad to suffer casualties very quickly. Before they had charged twenty meters, the entire squad had already suffered ten casualties.

Next, there were still a full eighty meters that these Japanese devils needed to charge.

Omiya Yuichi, a sergeant in the Tadoshi Squad, was unwilling. He directly lay prone on the ground, shouting loudly: "The firepower on the opposite side is so strong, where are our cannons and machine guns? Dafeng Novel Network

Fire suppression! Fire suppression! Without fire suppression, we can't charge up at all. Charging up like this now is completely meaningless death."

This was a Japanese devil who could think, but unfortunately, the battlefield did not need Japanese devils who could think.

What Tadoshi, the leader of the Twenty-Three Squad, needed was just Japanese devils who obeyed orders. He was very annoyed by this thoughtful Omiya Yuichi.

Affected by this Japanese devil, half of the entire squad had already lain prone on the ground and stopped charging.

Originally, these Japanese devils were all charging, but now it was over. The remaining ten or so Japanese devils who continued to charge charged another ten meters or so and fell down seven or eight.

The entire squad finally only had Tadoshi, the leader of the Twenty-Three Squad, charging alone. He became the most conspicuous Japanese devil on the battlefield.

He also attracted the most intensive attacks. When Tadoshi, the leader of the Twenty-Three Squad, fell, Brigade Commander Takahashi Hayato's heart also fell.

He was now very clear: the entire squadron was on the verge of destruction. The distance between the two sides was so close that the fortifications built by the other side were actually not much different from fortresses.

However, the entire squadron did not even have heavy weapons now. At such a close distance, the grenade launchers in the team would attract fierce bombing from the enemy's infantry artillery as soon as they fired.

How could they fight a battle without any depth?

Brigade Commander Takahashi Hayato could only use the last resort: he ordered all the Japanese devils in the entire brigade to stand up and launch an offensive.

This time, he no longer used the piecemeal tactics, nor did he test the enemy's firepower.

His brigade could still organize nearly six hundred Japanese devils who could charge. So many Japanese devils gathered together, braving the hail of bullets and charging towards the position a hundred meters away.

A distance of a hundred meters could be reached in at most twenty seconds when charging.

In order to prevent the situation of the Tadoshi Twenty-Three Squad from happening again, Brigade Commander Takahashi personally carried his saber behind the charging team and led the guards as a supervisor team: those who retreated would be beheaded! Those who fell prone would be beheaded! Those who hesitated and did not advance would be beheaded!

After the order was issued, his brigade prepared for three minutes, and the whistle for the charge sounded.

Hundreds of Japanese devils suddenly crawled up from the ground, holding guns and quickly charging forward with their waists bent.

The bravery of the Takahashi Brigade immediately attracted the support of the Japanese devils in the other brigades: they increased their rate of fire, and many Japanese devils shot their bullets at the positions directly in front of the Takahashi Brigade.

These Japanese devils all understood: "As long as the Takahashi Brigade charged into the enemy's fortifications, these Japanese devils would be saved."