October 28th, 1937, Night:

All the National Revolutionary Army soldiers stationed in the Sihang Warehouse watched Lin Fan preside over the Special Company's first competition.

This competition tested the disassembly and reassembly of three types of firearms: the Zhongzheng rifle, the Type 38 rifle, and the machine gun.

To ensure fairness, Lin Fan had taken as many considerations as possible beforehand.

The results of the first round were in: Xiao Dongbei first, Feng Junya second, Chen Sichuan third.

Lin Fan announced that these three would advance to the finals and would now take a break.

The second round would begin immediately.

…

The third round!

After three rounds, the most anticipated event was the final.

By this point, Liu Laopao, having witnessed the performances of his comrades in the company, was finally convinced:

He might, perhaps, maybe, be just a little bit inferior to those experts.

It must only be a tiny bit.

He’d let them have first place this month, but next month, he would definitely snatch the top spot back.

In his squad, a soldier named Mi Yushi had also made it to the finals, which made Gao Laopao extremely happy.

The young man usually seemed quiet and unassuming, but who knew he had such guts!

From now on, he would have to treat him a little better.

This competition involved each squad selecting three individuals, with one person from each squad participating in each round.

Each round involved drawing the three fastest soldiers to participate.

After three rounds, a total of nine soldiers had advanced to the finals.

Now, all nine stood before the stage, each looking at Lin Fan with spirited expressions.

They awaited his command to begin.

The rules remained the same as before; everyone now knew to wait for Lin Fan to call out "Start" before moving.

The tense competition began, with only experts participating in the finals.

Each person's movements were swift and precise.

In reality, the differences in their speeds were minimal, and the results were quickly determined:

Xiao Dongbei took first place, Feng Junya remained in second, and Lin Fan's signalman, Wu Xiaobao, came in third.

Xiao Dongbei was only six seconds faster than Feng Junya.

This advantage was only gained when Xiao Dongbei pulled ahead during the machine gun assembly.

Otherwise, it would have been difficult to determine who was faster.

Feng Junya accepted his defeat with grace but still said to Xiao Dongbei, "Next time, I will win!"

When Lin Fan personally handed the red flag, a symbol of honor, to Xiao Dongbei, the entire Fourth Squad erupted in cheers.

Everyone present was ecstatic.

Xiao Dongbei, his face flushed, excitedly accepted the red flag from Lin Fan, holding it carefully in his hands.

When everyone had calmed down a bit, Lin Fan smiled and invited Li Xian to stand before the entire Special Company:

"Reporter Li has repeatedly expressed his desire to join us, to fight the Japanese with a pen in one hand and a gun in the other.

I have agreed. Our company is full of roughnecks who can barely read.

From today on, we will also have an intellectual in our company.

I highly value intellectuals. Reporter Li is cultured and knowledgeable, and he will be responsible for our company's logistics.

From now on, he will be our Special Company's deputy company commander.

Everyone, welcome him!"

After saying this, Lin Fan was the first to applaud.

With him taking the lead, the soldiers, still caught up in their excitement, followed suit.

Li Xian smiled and said, "From now on, I will be responsible for ensuring that the brothers eat well and drink well! If anyone needs help writing a letter home, come find me!"

As soon as he said this, no fewer than ten soldiers shouted, "I want to write one!"

"I want to write one!"

Lin Fan said with a smile, "One at a time!"

The National Revolutionary Army soldiers stationed at the Sihang Warehouse finally quieted down. Tonight, it was the Third Company's turn to guard the outer perimeter of the Sihang Warehouse.

Lin Fan arranged the day and night sentries, both visible and hidden, as he had done in previous days.

When such things were first implemented, the soldiers in the company felt it was unnecessary, like taking off one's pants to fart.

But as they did it every day, everyone got used to it and no longer felt any discomfort.

The military was ultimately different from ordinary civilians; everything had to start from wartime conditions and practical combat.

This arrangement of visible and hidden sentries was necessary at all times.

It was also a very important matter!

The National Revolutionary Army soldiers stationed at the Sihang Warehouse rested.

The Japanese Shanghai Marine Corps, ordered to relieve the troops, was busy completing the encirclement of the entire Sihang Warehouse.

Commander Toshi Takuma of the Japanese Shanghai Marine Corps dispatched more than a dozen signalmen, giving each soldier a letter:

"Deliver them to the various newspaper offices. I want to see them on the front page of tomorrow's newspapers!"

The editor-in-chief of Wenhui News received the contents of the letter delivered by the Japanese signalman.

The content was not long, just a statement: The Japanese Imperial Shanghai Marine Corps hereby informs the citizens of Shanghai: From 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM on the 29th, our army will attack the Sihang Warehouse.

If there is any disturbance during this time, please do not panic.

The Imperial Shanghai Marine Corps guarantees to eliminate all resistance in the Sihang Warehouse within three hours.

To restore peace and tranquility to Shanghai.

The signature below was: Commander of the Shanghai Marine Corps: Toshi Takuma.

Such an arrogant statement could not be published by a Chinese person, a patriot.

Behind the statement delivered by the signalman was another page, which read: Your newspaper will certainly have news of the humiliating failure of the Imperial soldiers' attack on the Sihang Warehouse today.

This statement, placed alongside such reports, will better demonstrate the fairness and impartiality of the newspaper!

Each envelope contained the same content.

Xie Jinyuan immediately received a call from the newspaper office.

He immediately gathered all officers above the company level to discuss countermeasures.

Li Xian was attending such a military conference for the first time and noticed that everyone was somewhat silent.

He stood up and said, "Would you like me to introduce the enemy's forces first?"

Xie Jinyuan nodded.

Everyone knew that Li Xian was a reporter in Shanghai.

Reporters in Shanghai were very well-informed.

If these reporters weren't well-informed, they probably wouldn't be able to make a living.

The officers present all knew this.

After Li Xian explained the enemy's forces.

The officers learned that the incoming force was so strong!

When they had only four thousand soldiers, they had withstood the attack of two main divisions.

Now they had more than eight thousand men.

…

How could they fight this battle?

Lin Fan saw that Li Xian's words had frightened the officers present.

This wouldn't do.

The general was the soul of the army, and the soldiers were the general's courage!

If they lost their soul, how could the hundreds of soldiers defending the Sihang Warehouse fight?

Lin Fan smiled and stood up, "Company Commander Li just spoke about the enemy's strength, which is to our disadvantage.

Now I will talk about our advantages.

The Sihang Warehouse is adjacent to the Suzhou Creek, and across the creek is the concession.

Judging from the situation in recent days, the Japanese dare not use heavy artillery.

They can only use low-powered artillery and grenade launchers.

This situation is similar to the situation our army faced when these Japanese were defending the Dagon Cotton Mill.

Faced with the defenders' solid bunkers and buildings, they couldn't use heavy artillery to bombard them.

They could only send infantry to attack head-on!

They were able to withstand the attacks of our two main divisions with four thousand men.

Now we have eight hundred men, and we can still withstand the attacks of eight thousand Japanese soldiers.

Think about these past few days, we have already killed more than two thousand Japanese soldiers here.

The more Japanese soldiers come, the greater their casualties will be.

As I said before, 'If you preserve the land but lose the people, you lose both the land and the people.

If you preserve the people but lose the land, you preserve both the people and the land!'

This time, we will still hold our ground in the outer fortifications, gradually shrink our forces, and retreat to the Sihang Warehouse.

We will use our secret weapons to give the Japanese a severe blow.

We will make them feel pain in their hearts, livers, and skulls all at once!"

Lin Fan's words made everyone in the room laugh.

Everyone knew that the real battle would not be as easy as Lin Fan had described.

But from the first day they accepted this mission, everyone knew that this day would come sooner or later.

Maybe it would be tomorrow.

Regimental Commander Xie Jinyuan said with a smile, "When soldiers come, we will block them; when water comes, we will dam it.

If they want to fight, then we will fight!"

Lin Fan suggested, "Tomorrow, we should only send a small number of observation posts to the rooftop and the outer fortifications.

Let's see what kind of tactics this new Japanese force will use.

Then we can make targeted responses."

Lei Xiong stood up to volunteer, "Our machine gun company, although small in number, has been resting these past few days.

Please let our machine gun company go tomorrow."

Regimental Commander Xie thought for a moment, "Tomorrow, all units will retreat into the Sihang Warehouse.

There will only be a small number of observers in the outer fortifications. The machine gun company and the Third Company will prepare at the same time.

When the order to attack is given, rush out immediately and catch the Japanese off guard with our firepower advantage."

Lei Xiong became happy, "Regimental Commander is wise!"

Acting Third Company Commander Tang Di stood up to express his stance, "Please rest assured, Regimental Commander and everyone. With the Third Company here tomorrow, we will not let the Japanese take half a step into the building."

Xie Jinyuan looked at his officers with satisfaction, seeing that they once again had the determination to fight.

He was finally relieved and said with a smile, "It's getting late, everyone. Arrange your sentries and get some rest!

Tomorrow will be a fierce battle."

On October 29th, 1937, the headlines of Shanghai's newspapers all reported the news that eight hundred brave soldiers had annihilated another Japanese battalion on the morning of the 28th.

The newspapers had been selling more than twice as many copies as usual these days.

Every day, the headlines were about how many invaders the eight hundred brave soldiers had killed.

But today was different from the past: alongside this encouraging news was a statement:

A statement from the Japanese Shanghai Marine Corps.

The statement said that they planned to capture the Sihang Warehouse in three hours.

The whole world understood that this was a statement that the Japanese military had deliberately published in various newspapers in order to save face.

The purpose was to undermine the determination and enthusiasm of the national military and civilians to resist the war!

Just like the slogan they had recently put forward: to occupy the whole country in three months!

But the citizens of Shanghai clearly remembered what had happened two months ago.

The two most elite main divisions of the National Revolutionary Army had taken turns attacking the Dagon Cotton Mill, which this force was defending, for a full half month.

They had not succeeded. From this, one could see the combat effectiveness of this force.

On this day, many citizens who bought the newspaper went to the south bank of the Suzhou Creek to cheer for the eight hundred brave soldiers.

When the British and American troops stationed in the concession received the news last night that the Japanese were going to spend three hours attacking the Sihang Warehouse today.

They had sent heavy troops to block the entire passage into the south bank of the Suzhou Creek.

They did not want this incident to cause unrest in the concession.

Those residents who originally lived on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek felt much more at ease when they heard the sounds of fighting coming from the opposite bank in the morning!

They were now used to this kind of life. Every day, they would look at the heroic figures fighting on the opposite bank and feel satisfied: this country still had many valiant men resisting.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Commander Toshi Takuma of the Japanese Shanghai Marine Corps had ordered all units to move into position.

And prepared to launch the attack.

He wanted to show off the prestige of the Imperial Navy to the world.

At the same time, he also wanted to show those army *baka* what naval aristocrats were capable of.

The force commanded by Toshi Takuma had a very complex composition, with only about two hundred men in each battalion.

Although the total number was now more than eight thousand soldiers, these soldiers were all drawn from the marine corps on various warships at sea.

In order to fight this battle well today, Toshi Takuma had specially arranged for three commanders to direct the attacks on the east, west, and north sides respectively.

Of the more than eight thousand soldiers, except for the artillery force of more than one thousand men and the tank force of nearly three hundred men.

All the infantry were evenly distributed to the three directions.

Even the tanks were allocated seventeen to each direction.

Only the artillery could only be used in a concentrated manner, so he arranged them together.

Toshi Takuma appointed a detachment commander to be responsible for commanding each direction: Lieutenant Colonel Katsuharu Yota was the commander of the east side;

The task in this direction was to cooperate with the artillery bombardment as the main attack.

To attack the outer fortifications of the defenders and enter from the main entrance of the Sihang Warehouse with the cooperation of the troops on the west side.

Lieutenant Colonel Kitahara Sasuke was the commander of the west side;

The task in this direction was to cooperate with the Japanese attack on the east side, with both sides attacking together;

To break through the outer fortifications of the defenders and enter from the main entrance of the Sihang Warehouse.

Lieutenant Colonel Yoshino Eiji was the commander of the north side;

The task in this direction was to rush to the north wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

To use explosive means to violently blast open the north wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

To cooperate with the attacks from the east and west sides, rush into the Sihang Warehouse, and annihilate all the defending troops inside the warehouse.

Toshi Takuma's operational plan was unanimously supported by all the staff officers.

In the eyes of these people: any route of the Imperial soldiers could capture this Sihang Warehouse.

The commander was so concerned about these defenders, painstakingly arranging three-way attacks for the sake of the Empire's glory.

All the commanders and all the teams were ready, just waiting for the hour hand to point to nine.

Although the United Kingdom and the United States had blocked the passage to the south bank of the Suzhou Creek, they had completely opened it up to reporters from all sides.

Today, all the reporters in Shanghai had gathered on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek.

The number of people standing on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek to watch the battle was no less than on ordinary days.

There were also people from various gangs and families who had been sent to gather information, all crowded on the south bank.

They had all accepted the instructions of their bosses or masters to send back the latest intelligence as soon as possible.

Reporters from all over the world had also gathered here, believing that the moment to witness a miracle was coming!

Today, the Sihang Warehouse had become the focus of the world.

Everyone was waiting for nine o'clock to arrive, because the Japanese had published a statement in the newspaper: saying that the attack would begin at nine o'clock.

When the church bells rang, Toshi Takuma ordered, "Fire!"

On the artillery positions of the marine corps, which had been prepared for a long time, dozens of shells rose into the air at the same time.

They slammed heavily into the Sihang Warehouse building and the fortresses outside.

The Japanese launched attacks in all three directions at the same time, with more than a dozen tanks and armored vehicles moving in each direction.

Behind them, the Japanese infantry followed, bending over.

The observers from the multinational military observation group looked at each other.

They had seen Toshi Takuma's statement and thought that the Japanese army would make a big move today.

But they did not expect such a big move: slapping them hard in the face in front of the whole world.

These ambassadors and military attachés from various countries, and the commanders of the armed forces sent to Shanghai by the United Kingdom and the United States, looked at Koizumi Junichiro.

And ordered him in unison to immediately order the Japanese to stop the shelling. Now these people were afraid that if a shell hit a gas tank.

None of them would be able to escape.

Koizumi Junichiro immediately complied!

This time his communication actually failed.

The original words of Toshi Takuma, commander of the Japanese Shanghai Marine Corps, were: The Navy of the Great Japanese Empire only accepts orders from the supreme leader.

The implication was: you, a diplomat, have no reason to command them.

When Koizumi Junichiro said in a trembling voice: This is the request of all members of the multinational military observation group;

If the shelling did not stop immediately, the United Kingdom and the United States would immediately join the battlefield and intervene.

Toshi Takuma said coldly, "If he wants to come, let him come!"

Such a tough attitude made the observers, who had just been filled with righteous indignation, silent!

They were collectively silent!

Faced with violence, the world retreated once again.

The ding-dong of the church bells was drowned out by the booming sound of Japanese artillery.

The defending soldiers inside the Sihang Warehouse felt the entire building shaking.

The second company commander and the third company commander both said with relief, "Fortunately, our main force has all retreated, and we have only placed observation posts outside.

And fortunately, the fortresses of the observation posts have been reinforced again today."

The Japanese artillery shelling did not last long, less than ten minutes.

Their artillery only fired one round of rapid fire before stopping.

Toshi Takuma looked through his binoculars at the National Revolutionary Army positions, which had been empty in the first place, now covered in smoke.

After this round of bombardment, the outer perimeter of the Sihang Warehouse was still empty.

"Did those defending soldiers retreat quietly, or did they hide inside the Sihang Warehouse?" Toshi Takuma wondered.

In fact, Toshi Takuma was also very careful in this artillery bombardment, repeatedly instructing the artillerymen: Do not let the shells fly over the Suzhou Creek.

He had also issued orders to those tanks that were charging: Rather not fire, than let the shells fly over the Suzhou Creek!