Chapter 1 November 27th, 1937, 11:00 AM

Exactly one hour had passed since the Japanese army began its offensive.

In order to better strike at the Japanese devils and preserve his own strength, Lin Fan had to lead his special forces unit through the Japanese heavy artillery bombardment and charge out of the Xiaoshan Fort.

They had broken through the Japanese artillery bombardment zone, but at the cost of three vehicles and the lives of the soldiers on board.

Furthermore, at this time, nearly a hundred men from the special forces unit had fallen behind.

Lin Fan operated the only 88mm anti-aircraft gun in the entire company, firing at the Japanese planes flying low.

Takatsu Reigi, in a stroke of genius, had come up with the idea of flying low from a distance to enter the fort's airspace.

He believed that this would break the divine curse over the fort's airspace.

In the end, he never found out if his method was effective.

At least, he didn't plummet straight into the ground like the three fighter planes before him.

Takatsu Reigi was shot down by Lin Fan with the anti-aircraft gun.

The four planes behind him watched as the bomber piloted by Takatsu was hit with a single shot.

It burst into flames in the air, erupting like a brilliant firework, incomparably dazzling.

The pilots of the four planes simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief: being blown up by a shell was much easier to accept than inexplicably planting into the ground like a potato.

These pilots believed that with their skills and the agility of their fighter planes and attack aircraft, they could directly plunge into the ranks of the enemy.

And cripple this force that dared to stop and not disperse.

Kushima Kairun shouted excitedly, "Takatsu-kun was shot down, I saw it!"

Every pilot in the entire flying squadron heard the excitement and relief in his tone.

This also made all the pilots breathe a sigh of relief; as long as they didn't crash for some unspeakable reason.

They could all accept it.

Kushima Kairun immediately increased the throttle; he was flying an attack aircraft with four machine guns under its belly.

The four 7.7mm machine guns started firing early.

As if to embolden himself.

At the same time, his plane began to drift left and right, trying to prevent the Guojun (Nationalist Army) gunner from aiming.

Four tongues of fire in the air, like four fiery lines, drew four red lines in the sky.

These lines were thrown far away, scattering who knew where.

Lin Fan didn't indulge Kushima Kairun; he only focused on this suddenly accelerating attack plane for five seconds.

He fired decisively, and Kushima Kairun watched helplessly as his plane moved to the left, practically shoving itself in front of the shell.

This time, he only managed to let out a scream: "Yamede! Ah!"

It was practically a live broadcast; the entire flying squadron had just heard his excited tone, and now they heard his scream.

Then there was silence.

Kushima Kairun's attack plane also turned into the firework that had excited him.

After all five planes in this squadron crashed, no plane was willing to fly in that direction for a while.

Even the fighter plane of Battalion Commander Sho below had to return regrettably due to running out of ammunition.

The annoying flies in the sky over the entire Jiangyin defense zone disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Regardless of what the pilots in those air squadrons thought, at least it reduced the pressure on the Guojun's entire Jiangyin defense zone.

Lin Fan waited for Zhen Danxiao's team to catch up before ordering the direct unit to pack up the anti-aircraft gun again.

They followed the main force towards Henggang.

Henggang: The special company had ambushed Japanese devils here before; last time, the Japanese fleet was much closer than this time.

Therefore, all the mortars of the entire special forces unit participated in the battle.

This time was similar; just as Lin Fan and his special forces quietly arrived at the position.

They could clearly see the Japanese warships less than two thousand meters away on the river.

The *Chokai* heavy cruiser currently had three main guns and two secondary guns hit.

But its hull had not actually suffered much damage.

Lin Fan looked at so many Japanese warships on the river and was also troubled:

There were too many targets to finish off at once.

And this time was different from the last time; last time, he could simultaneously strike all the Japanese combat-capable ships, and paralyze all the ships' weapon attack systems before the Japanese could react.

That tactic was impossible to achieve now.

From the current position, although his mortars could attack the Japanese ships.

Many weapons on the Japanese ships could also hit him.

Especially the sixty-six 25mm machine guns on the *Chokai* heavy cruiser, thirty-three of which were facing his direction.

And that was just the close-range firepower on one cruiser; if you added the close-range firepower ranging from 20mm to 90mm on the other warships.

Lin Fan believed that there would be no fewer than a thousand cannons that could attack his force.

How to fight?

That was a problem.

Which one to hit? That was a difficult choice!

Lin Fan led the special forces, concealing their presence, and finally selected a destroyer on the river first.

The name on its side identified it as the *Yugiri* destroyer.

Visually, this destroyer had a displacement of less than 3,000 tons.

That was good; it was easy prey for the special forces' current weapons.

It wouldn't be too hard to hit!

But hitting just one warship was not Lin Fan's style; after finding a target for the anti-aircraft gun he was operating, he started assigning targets for the mortars in the unit.

Their targets were much easier to find: three cannons per small ship.

They focused on the Japanese torpedo ships and minesweepers.

Seventeen mortars aimed at five such small Japanese ships.

Two 20mm anti-aircraft guns jointly dealt with the nearest torpedo boat.

All targets had been assigned to specific people.

The front, middle, and rear of each Japanese ship to be hit by each cannon had been fixed.

But Lin Fan still hadn't started yet.

Good food is not afraid of being late!

There was still a lot of preparation work he had to do: including ordering all the special forces units, except for the first detachment and the direct unit, to retreat two thousand meters and conceal themselves, awaiting orders.

The soldiers of the direct unit and the first detachment prepared to assist in the evacuation of each gun emplacement.

Three minutes!

Lin Fan said loudly, "We only have three minutes to fire.

When three minutes are up, regardless of the target's situation, the entire artillery position must retreat.

The retreat time can be advanced, but absolutely no delay is allowed, not even a second.

Do you understand?"

"Understood!" The answer was uniform.

"If you have any questions, ask now!" Lin Fan said.

He wanted to get the thinking straight for all the soldiers; only when the thinking was straight.

When every soldier understood the reason for doing this, would they be proactive and urgent in their actions.

Sure enough, Ji Wudi requested to speak: "Company Commander, last time we hit a Japanese warship, we kept hitting it until it sank before we left.

Why only three minutes this time? What if it doesn't sink in three minutes?"

Lin Fan smiled and said, "Does everyone have such doubts?"

"Yes!" Many soldiers echoed.

Lin Fan smiled and said, "Last time, the Japanese had a total of only fourteen ships, of which only two destroyers could threaten us.

We crippled those two destroyers as soon as we went up.

At that time, the Japanese were meat on our chopping board.

Whether we wanted to braise or stew them, it was up to us.

Today is different.

Today, the Japanese have so many ships; we can only ambush them a little, fight a guerrilla war.

We can only hit them at the beginning; once they react.

With so many warships and thousands of cannons, we will become the meat on their chopping board."

The soldiers of the two detachments laughed.

"Three minutes is after careful consideration.

In three minutes, mortars can fire twenty shells if they fire a little faster.

Sixty shells hitting a ship is enough for it to bear.

In three minutes, the Japanese should have been able to discover our position and start preparing to bombard it.

We have to retreat before the Japanese shells land here.

Let them bomb the air."

The soldiers laughed again.

"Therefore, the most important thing in this battle against the Japanese is the cooperation of the first detachment.

Only if everyone cooperates well, can we run fast.

That is victory!

Now, does everyone understand?"

"Understood!" This time, the soldiers' answer was obviously much louder.

"Now, everyone get into position; Deputy Company Commander Li, give the order!"

"Yes!" Li Xian responded loudly.

After everyone got into position, Li Xian ordered loudly: "All gunners in position!

Count down ten numbers!

Ten!

Nine!

Eight!

…

Fire!"

When Li Xian's order was issued, twenty cannons of the special forces unit fired simultaneously.

Yoshida Gawa was the captain of the *Yugiri* destroyer, and he was already fifty-three years old this year.

Captain Yoshida, who was originally about to retire, was very excited about this battle.

Because this battle would allow him to retire with military exploits, and proudly return to his hometown to boast to all his relatives and fellow villagers.

His *Yugiri* destroyer had a standard displacement of 2,077 tons.

It was 119.3 meters long, 10.8 meters wide, and had a draft of 3.76 meters.

The main engine had 50,000 horsepower, a top speed of 35 knots, and an economical range of 5,000 nautical miles.

The entire ship was equipped with six 127mm guns, thirteen 25mm guns, and eight 610mm torpedo launchers.

The crew consisted of 225 men, and now the six 127mm guns on his warship were firing at full strength.

Captain Yoshida watched the towering smoke rising from the Jiangyin Fort.

He was extremely excited, standing on the bridge, facing the biting wind on the river.

He held up his binoculars and stared intently ahead.

He guessed how much longer it would take for the commander to send minesweepers to clear the channel.

Perhaps today, they could capture this fort.

At that moment, the corner of his eye noticed countless black dots flying towards the imperial fleet on his side.

He immediately shifted his gaze from the distance back to the middle of his own camp.

This time, without binoculars, Captain Yoshida could clearly see that many shells were landing on several torpedo ships around him.

Shells were exploding one after another, and the crew members on those ships had not had time to react before they fell.

Captain Yoshida personally saw a piece of shrapnel pierce through a crew member's head.

Then half of this person's head disappeared.

He couldn't continue watching: because he clearly felt that his destroyer seemed to have been hit as well.

The deck under his feet was constantly vibrating, as if emitting painful groans.

The sound of explosions was transmitted from under his feet; this kind of sound directly transmitted through objects was obviously deeper than the sound transmitted through the air.

These sounds seemed to be coming from under his feet, and then transmitted to the brain through the bones.

His good mood just now had vanished.

Captain Yoshida asked loudly, "What happened?"

No one responded, but a signalman immediately ran out.

Goto Kunihiko was a good soldier!

After hearing Captain Yoshida's question, he immediately ran towards the ship's side; he wanted to go to the side to take a look.

The attack came from the south bank of the Yangtze River!

Although Yoshida had not received a response.

He had already reacted from the shock: first, check his own losses, and second, immediately organize a counterattack.

Captain Yoshida raised his binoculars again and looked towards Jiangnan.

The attack from the opposite bank had not stopped from the beginning, so he easily discovered the direction from which the attack was launched.

And he also determined the approximate location, but now he could only determine one direction, and he didn't know how deep the enemy's artillery position was in this direction.

But this did not affect Captain Yoshida's order: "All guns on the ship, aim west 13 degrees, depth 3,000 meters."

His order was immediately transmitted.

The six 127mm guns that were firing also stopped shooting.

They began to turn.

The ship was swaying a little; the vibration under his feet was too intense. Yoshida thought in his heart.

At this moment, Goto Kunihiko, who had just run out to check the situation, ran back with a pale face: "Report to the captain! A very large hole has been blown in the side of the warship; this ship is going to sink."

Captain Yoshida's face suddenly changed: "Nonsense!"

He didn't say the following words: "As long as it's not a torpedo, no matter how much artillery fire there is, it won't sink my warship in just a few minutes."

Captain Yoshida strode towards the side of the ship.

The ship swayed even more violently.

At this moment, he only felt that the entire ship seemed to come alive, jumping suddenly.

It was as if it was struggling to break away from the water, wanting to ascend!

Then all the soldiers on the entire *Yugiri* destroyer heard a violent explosion.

Lin Fan's continuous three-minute attack finally broke through the *Yugiri*'s ammunition depot.

The explosion of the *Yugiri*'s ammunition depot made it impossible for the already battered destroyer to hold on any longer.

A huge black hole was blown out of the side of the entire warship, and a small part of the middle of the entire ship was still connected.

The raging river water, like a beast, slammed into the already open arms of the *Yugiri* destroyer.

When the *Yugiri* was first attacked, the entire Third Fleet had not yet reacted.

The warships capable of counterattacking were still trying to fire shells at Bingxiaoshan.

Those torpedo boats and minesweepers that were being hit had no right to speak.

They could only passively and honestly take a beating.

But this wave of artillery fire fired from Jiangnan was too fierce.

And it only stared at small boats like them to bombard.

Shells after shells, like peeling onions, peeled off the protection of these small boats layer by layer.

Until it peeled out its bottom.

Even so, the artillery fire on the shore did not weaken in the slightest; they threw shells fiercely at these torpedo boats like moths to a flame, and even if they blew through the bottom of these torpedo boats, they did not stop.

Of the fleet of more than sixty warships, they were originally also enduring the counterattack of the artillery on Jiangyin Fort.

Being hit was also expected.

The fate of these small boats initially did not attract the attention of the cruiser and battleship big brothers in the fleet.

They only turned their pitiful gaze over when the *Yugiri*'s ammunition depot exploded.

Now, the five small boats had no value or opportunity to be rescued.

There was not a single crew member standing on them, and the river water inside the small boats was about to overflow.

The *Yugiri* destroyer was a very new warship, and it had a displacement of 2,000 tons.

Third Fleet Commander-in-Chief Hasegawa Kiyoshi Admiral still wanted to save it a little.

In this situation, they had to suppress the artillery fire on the riverbank first, and then they could go to rescue it.

But this time there was no need to suppress it; the attack from the Jiang'an had stopped.

The Third Fleet's rescue was also quickly abandoned.

From its right side, the *Yugiri* destroyer was still a completely undamaged warship.

From its left side, the internal organs of the entire destroyer could be seen clearly.

Even the boiler room was now full of water, and the entire warship was full of water.

Third Fleet Commander-in-Chief Hasegawa Kiyoshi had to order regretfully: "Abandon ship!"

His order was a bit late.

Those small ships around the *Yugiri* destroyer that had just sailed to its side to prepare to save it were now quickly disengaging.

The crew members on the ship were struggling to jump into the river, trying to get away from the warship as far as possible.

The speed at which these crew members left could not keep up with the speed at which the *Yugiri* sank.

Many crew members were attracted by the vortex that the *Yugiri* stirred up when it sank.

Simon Mitsuo was such an unlucky ghost; just as the warship was attacked, he had already discovered that the attack came from the south bank of the river.

As the main gunner of the 25mm anti-aircraft gun, he immediately began to adjust his position, preparing to fire.

It was just that the reaction speed of his two deputy gunners was obviously not as fast as his.

By the time they were ready, and had fired a round of bullets at Jiangnan.

They encountered the ammunition depot explosion.

He managed to escape with his life, and heard the order to abandon ship, but he could not outrun the speed at which the *Yugiri* sank.

Simon Mitsuo was on the edge of the vortex; he could clearly see that he only needed to move forward one meter to escape.

The edge of the vortex that the *Yugiri* stirred up when it sank was very clear, but no matter how hard Simon Mitsuo tried.

He was getting further and further away from the edge of the vortex.

The soldiers standing far away on the small boat watched this funny scene in front of them: a crew member was desperately waving his hands, kicking the water surface, seemingly swimming forward.

But the harder he tried, the more his whole body retreated; this visual error shocked everyone.

These crew members all knew: Simon Mitsuo was finished!