Chapter 1 Heartache

Looking at the boxes upon boxes of US dollars being brought in, Kojima Junichiro’s heart was bleeding. This was the hard-earned money of the Imperial people, every single cent of it!

And he was sending it out so easily.

Thinking about how he’d already given these people in the house tens of millions of dollars these past few days…

For a split second, a wolfish glint flashed in Kojima Junichiro’s eyes, as if he wanted to swallow everyone present alive.

But in an instant, his gaze returned to normal, not so amiable, so approachable, so meek.

Unbeknownst to Kojima Junichiro, that momentary look of his hadn’t escaped the notice of most people in the room.

German Ambassador Trautmann was one of them. Trautmann could understand Kojima Junichiro’s feelings.

The humiliation Germany faced in the days after World War I, twenty years ago, was no less than what Kojima Junichiro was experiencing now.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance.

German Ambassador Trautmann already knew: The Japanese would eventually turn on these Anglo-American countries.

Excellent! This was exactly what Germany wanted to see.

It would be a beautiful sight to behold!

Captain Murashita Taro was a true soldier. Upon receiving the order, he immediately ceased the artillery bombardment.

Then, depressed, he hid in his temporary command post, watching the defending army's position, which had just been bombed in the distance.

Many soldiers had already emerged, carrying sandbags, repairing the fortifications that had just been destroyed by the shells.

This Sihang Warehouse would not be easy to attack!

As a soldier, he couldn't understand the orders issued by the regimental commander just now, but even if he didn't understand, he still carried them out.

Clearly, bombing the defending army stationed in the Sihang Warehouse would greatly reduce the casualties of the Imperial soldiers.

It could also undermine the morale of the defenders, so why wasn't he allowed to do it?

Not letting a single bullet or shell fly to the south bank of the Suzhou River—Murashita Taro believed he had done this very well.

Just during the artillery bombardment, there were clearly fortifications and trenches of the defending army in front of the Sihang Warehouse.

He had specifically ordered that they were not allowed to be bombed, only focusing on bombing the Sihang Warehouse itself.

Even so, he was still stopped.

This Sihang Warehouse would not be easy to attack!

Murashita Taro decided to change his attack route and no longer divide his forces.

He would no longer attack on three routes, but would focus all his strength on attacking on only one route, secretly entering the Bank of Communications Building.

No matter how many routes you defend, I will only attack from one!

Attacking the Sihang Warehouse from the Bank of Communications Building.

This way, his infantry could avoid being bombarded by the defending army's artillery on the long road of attack.

And his artillery could also fire directly at the Sihang Warehouse from the Bank of Communications.

Surely he wouldn't be directed on the spot again!

Having adjusted his tactics, Murashita Taro commanded his troops to break up into smaller units and quietly enter the Bank of Communications.

Lin Fan, who had only fired a few shells from the rooftop just now, hadn't had enough.

He saw the Japanese quickly retreating.

This Japanese team was different from before!

They no longer cared about the Bushido spirit and even knew how to run away when they suffered casualties!

Alright! The Japanese weren't running away, just strategically retreating!

Just like the Nationalist army.

But the situation that followed was different.

The Japanese actually resumed artillery bombardment.

What was going on?

The Japanese actually sent infantry to charge first, followed by artillery bombardment?

They had reversed the order of attack on the battlefield!

When the Japanese artillery bombardment began, Lin Fan immediately retreated.

He wasn't Superman and didn't have the ability to avoid injury during artillery bombardment.

The Japanese infantry was still a thousand meters away from the battlefield and wouldn't be able to charge close for a while.

He began to organize the daily training of the Special Forces Company.

These soldiers were just beginning to come into contact with real training. They weren't doing very well with Lin Fan's strict requirements for marching, standing at attention, and various marching requirements.

If Lin Fan hadn't been so terrifying in his performance in fighting the Japanese these past two days…

These soldiers simply wouldn't accept such training.

In their opinion, physical training could increase their strength, which was good!

Bayonet drill was tiring, but it could be used on the battlefield, which was also good!

Practicing walking, practicing standing in formation—what was that?

Was it needed on the battlefield?

Therefore, the soldiers of the entire Special Forces Company became less and less energetic as they stood.

At this point, Lin Fan began to reflect: These soldiers really disliked this too much.

Things that were not accepted by the majority should be stopped for the time being!

Let's still let everyone practice bayonet drill!

After disbanding the team, the soldiers no longer stood at attention and started practicing bayonet drill, immediately becoming lively again.

Lin Fan smiled wryly: "I'm still too dogmatic. Everything should proceed from reality, everything should proceed from actual combat.

There's still too much I need to learn."

The Special Forces Company's bayonet drill proceeded as normal.

Lin Fan's organized training hadn't lasted for five minutes when he felt that the Japanese artillery bombardment had stopped.

It was over so quickly?

Lin Fan simply couldn't understand what kind of confusing operation this was from the Japanese.

Regimental Commander Xie Jinyuan also couldn't understand.

After the Japanese bombing stopped, he continued to look at the scenery from the rooftop. For him, he had already made up his mind to die when he accepted this mission.

Battalion Commander Yang Ruifu thought so too.

They both knew that being stationed here was a dead end.

Even so, they still wanted to hold out for as long as possible, guarding the nation's gateway for the entire country and the entire people.

Thinking this, Xie Jinyuan looked around, looking at the prosperity of the concession across the river, and then looking at the ruins under his feet.

He couldn't help but feel a myriad of emotions.

At this moment, he inadvertently saw a dark cannon muzzle protruding from behind a window in the opposite Bank of Communications.

He quickly ducked down and observed carefully.

Figures were flashing behind the windows on the opposite side from time to time. In fact, there was no need to see anything more.

Just based on the muzzle of that Type 92 infantry gun protruding from the opposite window, he understood: The Japanese had occupied the opposite Bank of Communications.

Next, the west side of the Sihang Warehouse would be subject to a fierce attack from the Japanese.

The sudden situation caused some panic among the officers and soldiers stationed in the Sihang Warehouse.

There were no windows on the west side of the Sihang Warehouse. The only place that could attack the Bank of Communications was on the rooftop.

Of course, this position was also easily subject to attack from the Japanese.

When Lin Fan was called to the rooftop by the signal soldier, he saw that there were already two cannon muzzles protruding from the windows on the opposite side.

Two cannon muzzles pointed in this direction.

The distance between the two sides was less than two hundred meters.

Lin Fan didn't have a good way to attack at this distance. The Japanese had installed the Type 92 infantry gun indoors.

And they had also piled sandbags in these two windows to prevent cold shots from the Nationalist army!

The Japanese two cannons only revealed their dark muzzles. Lin Fan had no chance to snipe their gunners.

Mortars were curved-trajectory guns and had no way to hit these two Japanese guns.

The Nationalist army stationed in the Sihang Warehouse could only watch helplessly as the Japanese two cannons fired at the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

Some soldiers tried to use machine guns to sweep the windows on the opposite side.

They only swept for less than a minute before Lin Fan stopped them: Pointlessly venting emotions was not a good sign.

Limited ammunition should be used on the Japanese, not for venting.

Captain Murashita Taro had moved his headquarters to the Bank of Communications Building, less than two hundred meters away from the Sihang Warehouse.

He personally commanded two Type 92 infantry guns, firing at the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

Murashita Taro wanted to open a gap in the Sihang Warehouse from this direction.

At such a close distance, the shells would no longer fly randomly.

He could guarantee one hundred percent that it would not affect the foreign fathers on the south bank of the Suzhou River.

This was the original intention of Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro: The attacking troops could use artillery to a limited extent, but they could not provoke opposition from the multinational military observation group!

He couldn't scare the foreign fathers watching the fire from across the river!

After discovering that the Japanese had deployed two cannons on the second floor of the Bank of Communications, Xie Jinyuan had already sent someone to notify all the soldiers inside the Sihang Warehouse.

Stay away from the west wall to prevent being hit by Japanese shells.

Both the attacking and defending sides nervously watched as the two shells exploded on the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

Murakami Taro, who could directly see the damage, saw the two shells accurately explode on the opposite wall.

He didn't get the results he expected.

He was very dissatisfied and somewhat didn't believe it.

He ordered: "Continue bombing!"

Xie Jinyuan, who had always liked to stand on the rooftop to observe the enemy's situation since the beginning of the war, was afraid that the Japanese shells would collapse the west side of the Sihang Warehouse.

He had already retreated.

He felt the entire Sihang Warehouse tremble.

He quickly inquired about the battle damage.

All the west walls from the ground floor to the sixth floor were intact.

Before Xie Jinyuan and the officers and soldiers stationed in the Sihang Warehouse could be happy, the building trembled again.

This was the second round of explosions launched by the Japanese.

Murakami Taro's team occupied the Bank of Communications and established an artillery position inside the bank.

Kojima Junichiro had reported this matter to the multinational military observation group in advance.

These military observers personally observed the distance between the two buildings on the south bank of the Suzhou River and felt that at this distance, all the shells fired would be borne by the Sihang Warehouse.

They also tacitly approved of the Japanese army's small actions. As long as it didn't affect the safety of the concession, they were unwilling to intervene.

These observers didn't retreat.

Since they knew the situation, they naturally wanted to see the contest between the attacking and defending sides as soon as possible.

These people very much liked watching the performance of soldiers from two unrelated countries.

When these observers saw that the first round of Japanese shells had no effect at all, they were also somewhat puzzled.

When the third round of shells had already hit the wall and exploded, and still hadn't caused any actual damage to the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

These observers really began to pay attention: This wall was too strong, even shells couldn't penetrate it?

Murakami Taro had planned to approach the Sihang Warehouse and use artillery to open the way, but he hadn't planned that the Type 92 infantry gun would be unable to blast open the wall of the Sihang Warehouse.

Now the long-range firepower was completely useless.

However, Captain Murakami Taro was not discouraged. There was never the word "discouraged" in a soldier's dictionary.

In any case, the entire Murakami team was now less than two hundred meters away from the Sihang Warehouse.

And there were no casualties!

Just this point alone made Captain Murakami Taro much stronger than the previous few Japanese captains who attacked the Sihang Warehouse.

However, his strength made the Nationalist army stationed in the Sihang Warehouse very unhappy.

In the past two days, every Japanese trying to get this close had paid a huge price.

At least one or two hundred Japanese lives had to be sent.

Now that this situation had occurred, the soldiers who had retreated earlier returned to their original positions.

This time, they didn't use machine guns to sweep, and the soldiers with good marksmanship began to aim at the Japanese hiding behind the windows.

Captain Murakami Taro also had new orders: Although the Bank of Communications Building was lower than the Sihang Warehouse.

But it could also threaten the defenders on the roof of the Sihang Warehouse from here.

Therefore, he issued a new order: "Squad Leader Nishimon Saburo, take your men to the roof and suppress the Nationalist army's firepower.

Cover the actions of the Imperial soldiers."

"Hai!" Squad Leader Nishimon Saburo took fifty or so Japanese to the roof of the Bank of Communications.

As soon as they reached the roof, they were immediately discovered by the soldiers of the First Company, who didn't know how to vent their anger.

According to Xie Jinyuan and Chang Ruifu's arrangements, the soldiers of each company would defend the outside of the Sihang Warehouse for one day.

After returning from the rotation, they would defend on the roof for another day, and then defend inside the building.

Today, the soldiers guarding the roof were the First Company of Shangguan Zhibiao.

These soldiers had shown their power and morale for two consecutive days and were at their peak.

As a result, these Japanese didn't play by the rules today and hid in the Bank of Communications, making the soldiers unable to vent their anger.

Now that the soldiers of the First Company finally had a chance to see a squad of Japanese appear on the roof, they immediately began to shoot.

Machine guns and rifles all opened fire.

The Nishimon squad, which had just gone upstairs, was caught off guard and suffered twenty or so casualties as soon as they exchanged fire.

The remaining Japanese could only hide behind the parapet on the roof.

From time to time, they would jump out and counterattack with a shot.

The Japanese had become smarter and the team was no longer easy to attack.

Suppressive firepower weapons like machine guns were too wasteful when facing individual Japanese, who had long learned to be cunning.

The First Company's machine guns stopped, leaving only rifles, aiming at the exposed figures of the Japanese and firing.

Captain Murakami Taro heard that the squad he had sent up was being suppressed, and was completely being beaten one-sidedly and unable to fight back.

Since the defending army had new actions, he naturally had new countermeasures.

The latest order: "Grenade launcher squad, get up to the roof for me and prop up the position on the roof."

His team had a grenade launcher squad of fifty-four men.

Another squad rushed to the roof. This time they were prepared and walked completely in the shadows of the parapet.

The entire grenade launcher squad finally entered the position completely unscathed.

The Japanese in this squad were all seasoned veterans. After only a little observation, they immediately began to prepare.

The multinational observation group, the Nationalist army's high-level officials, and some idle reporters standing on the south bank of the Suzhou River were watching the fire from across the river.

Just after seeing that the Japanese artillery bombardment had no effect, they saw the two sides shooting at each other on the roof.

This shootout ended with a complete defeat for the Japanese in less than two minutes.

A burst of cheers erupted from the south bank.

Before the cheers could end, more than a dozen shells fired from grenade launchers flew out of the Bank of Communications rooftop at once.

The First Company on the roof of the Sihang Warehouse suffered a great loss this time.

The fortifications that Lin Fan had designed on this roof were all to defend against bullets fired from below.

They were not prepared to defend against other people's shells.

Shangguan Zhibiao decisively ordered: "Withdraw from the position!"

They could only continue to be passively bombed if they stayed on the roof.

When the First Company retreated into the building, they counted the casualties. In just a moment, three people were killed and seven were injured.

Lin Fan, who was still directing the Special Forces Company soldiers to train downstairs, came upstairs with the signal soldier.

After listening to Shangguan Zhibiao's report on the dynamics of the Japanese on the Bank of Communications Building, he immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.

Lin Fan said to Xie Jinyuan, "Regimental Commander! Let me go. We also have grenade launchers captured from the Japanese."

Xie Jinyuan nodded and said, "Company Commander Lin! Drive the Japanese down. The high ground cannot be lost."

Lin Fan turned around and said, "Wu Xiaobao, Zhao Long! You two take the shells and come with me."

Using mortars at this distance would have the same effect.

But Lin Fan wanted to save shells. At this distance, using captured weapons to hit their former owners was the most suitable, wasn't it?

The Japanese bombing had just begun when they discovered that the gunshots from the opposite side had stopped. They continued to bomb for two more rounds, but there was still no counterattack from the opposite side.

Seeing the defending army's performance, it was clear that they had given up the rooftop position.

Although the Japanese could not rush up and could not occupy the rooftop position of the Sihang Warehouse.

But they could establish their own position on the rooftop of the Bank of Communications.

Squad Leader Nishimon immediately ordered his subordinates to quickly get up and start building simple fortifications on the roof with sandbags.

A combat team always hiding behind the parapet posed slightly more threat than nothing!

This was something Squad Leader Nishimon could not tolerate.

The grenade launcher squad also drilled out of their hiding place. They had been firing from behind the parapet.

The position was narrow and the operating experience was very poor.

The strikes were also very inaccurate. Some shells flew past and some exploded directly in the middle of the two buildings.

This forced Captain Murakami Taro, who had originally wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to send out a demolition team to blow open the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse, to tell the demolition team to wait.

He would send them out after the battle situation on the roof became clear.

After three rounds, the explosions stopped. Captain Murakami Taro then ordered the demolition team: "Set off!"

A compiled demolition team of fifty-four Japanese, carrying thirteen explosive packs, sprinted at the fastest speed!

They wanted to rush through the open space in front of them.

This squad of Japanese was racing against time. They wanted to rush past these hundred meters before the Nationalist army stationed in the Sihang Warehouse could react.

Once they entered the base of the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse, it would be difficult for the Nationalist army to attack them again.

The two squads of Japanese on the Bank of Communications Building, now without the high-altitude shooting from the Nationalist army, felt like the entire sky belonged to them.

The grenade launcher squad immediately shifted their position.

Completely exposed to the public.

They chose the middle of the roof to build a new firing position.

From this new position they had chosen, firing shells could better suppress the entire Sihang Warehouse roof, and at the same time cooperate with the Japanese who were attacking on the ground.

Bombarding the positions of some of the defending troops outside the Sihang Warehouse.