Chapter 1 Gu Junxiong's Regret

Company Commander Gui Junxiong looked at the Japanese soldiers approaching from the direction of Gao'an, his heart filled with regret: the regiment commander had ordered him to defend Xiangfaguan.

He had only focused on building fortifications and digging trenches here, never considering setting up ambushes in the same place where they had ambushed the enemy yesterday.

Even sending a platoon over there to bury a few directional mines would have been good.

Now the Japanese soldiers were less than five hundred meters from their position, and there was no time to bury any explosives.

They could only fight the enemy head-on.

Gui Junxiong was the company commander of the First Company of the Fourth Regiment of the Special Operations Brigade's general reserve force. While reflecting on his lessons, he didn't forget what he should be doing now.

He ordered the entire company's mortars and infantry guns to bombard the Japanese soldiers five hundred meters away, and at the same time ordered the heavy machine guns and machine guns to begin firing on the enemy.

Although Company Commander Gui had only been a platoon leader before, he listened to the instructors teach literacy and culture every night.

He often studied the combat examples of various fraternal units, which taught him that there was no fixed method for fighting a war; one must adapt to the circumstances.

The terrain he was defending now was very good, easy to defend and difficult to attack. But the disadvantage was also obvious: the soldiers of the entire company had only fought their first battle against the Japanese soldiers yesterday.

Their morale was high, but their combat skills were lacking, and this morale could not be allowed to be shaken. If the Japanese attack was too fierce...

The morale of the new soldiers would be affected. Therefore, Company Commander Gui ordered the entire company's artillery and machine guns to open fire immediately.

At this distance, the artillery shells still had some killing power against the enemy, and the machine guns weren't very effective, but they could excite the soldiers.

Captain Anai Idaya was very excited today. His unit was a company under the Fourth Battalion of the 138th Infantry Regiment of the 116th Division.

Yesterday, they received news that Gao'an County had been lost by the 6th Infantry Division, and they were ordered to retake Gao'an.

They didn't expect that the entire regiment would launch an attack together today, and they retook Gao'an County in just two hours. Regiment Commander Ishigaya Sanzaboro interrogated the captured prisoners.

He learned that there was another team of the National Revolutionary Army which had set out from Gao'an, heading towards Dacheng, Wanshougong, and Shengmi Street.

Regiment Commander Ishigaya Sanzaboro immediately sent his company to lead the way, followed by two battalions, preparing to wipe out the encircled team.

Although this team was quite powerful – the four regiments of the Special Operations Brigade – if they could be annihilated by the 138th Regiment, the 116th Division would become the most powerful infantry division in the Empire.

The road ahead was initially calm and uneventful. The Japanese soldiers of the entire company were excited, as they had won a victory, and it was normal to be excited.

The Japanese soldiers marched along the road, humming and hawing songs, feeling very relaxed. Sergeant Kosan Kazuya sang a local folk song, which even won the praise of Squad Leader Oura Kota.

Private First Class Kiyokawa Seito said enviously, "When the war is over, Kosan Kazuya can go back and become a singer."

Kosan Kazuya said disdainfully, "How can warriors of the Empire think about when the war is over? After we conquer this place, there is still so much land around us waiting for us to conquer.

We must conquer the whole world. We can't occupy all the land here, so let our sons and grandsons come. One day, we will be able to conquer the whole world."

His ideal pleased Squad Leader Oura Kota very much: "Kosan-kun, your ideal is very good! The Empire has become so powerful because of warriors like you."

Squad Leader Oura Kota seized the opportunity to educate the Japanese soldiers of the entire squad, feeling very proud of himself.

The Japanese soldiers of the entire squad, who were excited, also felt deeply that this idea was reasonable.

It wasn't just Oura Kota's squad that was excited; every Japanese soldier in the entire Anai company who was marching was excited. They had won a victory and retaken Gao'an County, which had been lost by the Sixth Division, the most powerful fighting force in the Empire.

Didn't this indirectly prove that their division's combat power had surpassed the Sixth Division and become the number one fighting force in the army?

Thinking about it this way, their steps felt light, as if they were about to ascend to heaven.

This state continued until they were eight *li* away from Xiangfaguan, when they gradually began to restrain themselves.

Liu, the platoon leader, was commanding his platoon of fifty men to dig trenches in front of Xiangfaguan.

According to the old tactics used in his former unit: they wouldn't fire a single shot at this time, waiting until the Japanese soldiers charged to within thirty meters of the position before blasting them, and then rushing out for bayonet combat.

Fighting in this way not only saved ammunition, but also ensured that not a single Japanese soldier would escape. But now it was different; the new soldiers still needed an adjustment period.

And at this time, the Japanese shells were still bombarding them. Platoon Leader Liu decided to use powerful firepower to repel the Japanese soldiers, no longer insisting on wiping them out completely.

The entire platoon of fifty men opened fire with heavy machine guns, light machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles, creating a fierce barrage that immediately caused many more Japanese soldiers in the charging Anai Idaya company to fall.

Squad Leader Oura Kota and the Japanese soldiers of his squad all fell. Kosan Kazuya, who had the potential to be a singer, was finally knocked out of his reverie and into the dust.

He still couldn't escape the heavy machine gun fire. After being hit heavily in the chest several times, he fell to the ground. He didn't have to be lost in thought anymore; now he had truly returned to the embrace of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu.

Three men formed a group, thrusting their bayonets at him. Three soldiers thrust their bayonets at the same time, which left Tanaka Haruto unable to defend himself; he didn't know which bayonet to parry.