Chapter 1 The Long Wait

For two days, Regiment Commander Pei Xueyi and his regiment had been lying in ambush behind the Japanese lines, forbidden to light fires or make any noise.

They waited silently in the jungle, awaiting the order to attack. Just when Commander Pei thought Captain Ji had forgotten about the Fifth Regiment, the order arrived.

The well-prepared Fifth Regiment immediately sprang into action. The First and Second Battalions moved to the left, the Third and Fourth Battalions advanced in the center, and the Fifth and Sixth Battalions attacked on the right, launching an offensive from three directions.

The rocket artillery company was ready and waiting, poised to bombard the enemy lines as soon as the attacking troops reached their destinations.

The Fifth Regiment was now five *li* (approximately 2.5 kilometers) from the Twenty-third Regiment's defensive line of the Sixth Division. This distance wasn't far; the infantry battalions could cover five *li* in a quick march in just twenty minutes.

Upon receiving the report from Shui Ziliu, commander of the First Battalion, the rocket artillery company immediately began preparing to bombard the Japanese defenses.

The Yamashita Daisuke Battalion had just arrived at the front lines and was moving into position. The Japanese soldiers of the Yamashita Daisuke Battalion didn't show much resistance to this wave of shells raining down from the sky.

They quickly dove onto the ground, waiting for the bombardment to end. At this moment, Yamashita Daisuke didn't realize there was anything special about this artillery strike.

However, the shells were coming from behind them, which Yamashita Daisuke found puzzling: Had their rear been cut off so quickly?

He had his doubts, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't send a squad back to check if the road was clear.

The fifteen-minute artillery preparation had just ended when the six battalions of the Fifth Regiment launched their attack. When these soldiers actually appeared behind the Inoue Zaemon Battalion and the Yamashita Daisuke Battalion,

both battalion commanders panicked and immediately requested reinforcements from Regiment Commander Okamoto Shizuchen. The Yamashita Daisuke Battalion, having just arrived on the battlefield, was already begging for support.

Regiment Commander Okamoto Shizuchen was furious at the two battalions' pleas for help: After receiving a whole battalion's worth of reinforcements, they were still asking for more.

Were the Nationalist troops too strong, or were they just too cowardly?

Reprimanded, the two battalion commanders could only resist while being attacked from both sides.

The Inoue Zaemon Battalion had few soldiers left capable of fighting; the entire battlefield mainly relied on the support of the Yamashita Daisuke Battalion.

Battalion Commander Yamashita Daisuke had five infantry companies under his command: the Toda Ren Company, the Igawa Tsubasa Company, the Yonekura Takumi Company, the Koike Takekazu Company, and the Ito Haruto Company.

As soon as these five infantry companies were sent to the front lines, the Ito Haruto Company and the Koike Takekazu Company were immediately pulled back. Together with the remaining staff, battalion headquarters guards, and the battalion engineer company, they formed a force dedicated to defending against the Fifth Regiment, which had just surged up from behind.

Chief of Staff Akasaka Daichi was in charge of the rear defense, while Battalion Commander Yamashita Daisuke commanded the front lines.

Chief of Staff Akasaka Daichi accepted this hot potato assignment, unable to refuse. He could only order: The Ito Haruto Company must immediately retreat from the front lines and establish a new defensive line two hundred meters behind the front.

The more than one hundred soldiers of the Nagasaku Yuta Engineer Company followed the Ito Haruto Company to help dig fortifications.

Although digging fortifications was the Nagasaku Yuta Engineer Company's specialty, digging trenches amidst gunfire and bullets made them feel somewhat flustered.

Nevertheless, Company Commander Nagasaku Yuta ordered the soldiers to start digging quickly, "Even if we can dig a ditch, that's better than nothing."

Sergeant Major Baishō Shō and Sergeant Major Kishitani Ryō of the engineer company crawled along to avoid being hit by stray bullets, their engineer shovels flying.

All the soldiers of the engineer company were working this way. The soldiers of the Ito Haruto Company also didn't stand idly by. They were lying prone ten meters ahead of the engineer company, opening fire.

These soldiers were lying prone on the ground, opening fire in the absence of fortifications, trying to stop the Fifth Regiment's advance.

In less than five minutes of firing, they were swept by machine gun fire from the Fifth Regiment and couldn't even raise their heads.

Company Commander Ito Haruto saw that more than a dozen soldiers had been killed or wounded in such a short time. Looking back, he saw that the fortifications dug by the Nagasaku Yuta Company were already two *chi* (approximately 66 centimeters) deep.

Although it couldn't compare to regular fortifications, it was definitely ten times better than having no fortifications at all. He immediately ordered the entire company to retreat into the fortifications.

At the same time, he ordered the engineer company to continue digging new fortifications ten meters behind them. His thoughts were clear: These fortifications were temporary, and the fortifications behind them were what he needed to defend resolutely.

Company Commander Nagasaku Yuta could understand his idea. The soldiers of the Koike Takekazu Company also retreated ten meters.

With rudimentary fortifications as a defensive line, the soldiers of the two infantry companies finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They could finally catch their breath, at least they wouldn't be like before, unable to raise their heads from the dense bullets, afraid to move on the ground.

Even so, exposed bodies were still hit by bullets. Soldiers like Imai Taichi, Kurokawa Makoto, and Ito Ryota were all injured in the legs and feet.

Although they were dragged back into the fortifications, they could no longer be sent to the rear.

All the troops the Japanese had deployed on the Shengmi Street defensive line no longer had a rear. The Fifth Regiment was fiercely attacking their rear.

Squad Leader Sudo Daisuke ordered the wounded, like Imai Taichi, Kurokawa Makoto, and Ito Ryota, to continue fighting with their guns. Now, it wasn't a question of whether they were lightly or seriously injured, or whether they should be pulled off the front lines, but that they simply couldn't retreat, and had no way to retreat.

Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall. The Japanese soldiers, with no way out, also exploded with their ruthlessness, firing madly at the Fifth Regiment.

Countless bullets struck the heavy machine gun shields pushed forward by the advancing First and Second Battalions, making continuous clanging sounds.

It was a lie to say that the soldiers of the First and Second Battalions, who were on the battlefield for the first time, weren't afraid or nervous. Fortunately, these soldiers could still see their squad leaders remain calm.

Zhao Fukang, the squad leader of the Third Squad of the Second Battalion, shouted to Fan Hongmao, who was pushing the heavy machine gun, "Don't be afraid! Just keep pushing forward!"

"The Japanese machine gun bullets can't penetrate the steel plate in front. We are very safe behind it."

Fan Hongmao responded in an even louder voice, "Squad leader! I'm not afraid! But my hands and feet keep shaking by themselves. I can't control it!"

"Let them shake, don't worry about it. Just concentrate on pushing the cart with your head down.

When the bullets hit the steel plate, is there a force pushing the cart backwards?" Squad Leader Zhao asked.

"Yes! Sometimes the force is very strong. You have to use force to keep it from being pushed back." Fan Hongmao felt better when someone spoke to him.

"The first time I pushed this cart onto the battlefield, the Japanese heavy machine guns seemed to be staring at me. I was also very scared. That's what the squad leader at the time told me.

Don't pay attention to the noises. Pay attention to the force of the bullets hitting the steel plate, and guess what kind of gun it is and where the bullets are hitting the steel plate."

At this point, Squad Leader Zhao stopped talking.

Meng Xia next to him quickly asked, "Squad leader, did you guess it?"

"Guess my ass! The old squad leader was just trying to coax me, but I was counting the bullets at the time, counting how many bullets the steel plate had stopped.

The second time I went to the battlefield, I wasn't afraid anymore."

When the soldiers were training, they were far away from the targets. Now that they were behind the targets themselves, it was normal for the soldiers to be afraid.

These veterans who had been transferred back from the front lines to serve as squad and platoon leaders understood this very well. Who hadn't started as a new recruit?

They used all sorts of methods to relax these soldiers who were on the battlefield for the first time. No matter how scared they were, the First and Second Battalions' pace of advance never stopped.

They continued to advance, making the situation difficult for the Koike Takekazu Company and the Ito Haruto Company, which were trying to block the Fifth Regiment.

As the First and Second Battalions advanced to within two hundred meters, the power of the heavy machine guns increased exponentially. The sweeping fire suppressed the Japanese soldiers once again, leaving them with no ability to fight back.

Koike Takekazu Company machine gunner Igarashi Taro could still fire at the charging troops, but after being hit by a rocket, the machine gun was destroyed.

The last machine gun in the entire company was silenced. All the Japanese soldiers were pinned down by the heavy machine guns and couldn't raise their heads at all. The firepower of their counterattack was negligible.

Fan Hongmao, who was pushing the cart, could feel it and shouted in surprise, "Squad leader! They're not firing anymore!"

Squad Leader Zhao said, "Now you know the benefits of this cart, right? We advanced two hundred meters from more than three hundred meters away under the Japanese gunfire.

At this distance, we have completely suppressed the Japanese fire. Keep pushing forward, and we'll be able to launch an assault on the Japanese positions in a moment."

"Alright!"

Battalion Commander Yamashita Daisuke deployed all of his troops, three infantry companies, to the front, where they engaged with the attacking Second and Third Regiments.

He used two infantry companies and the reserve force to hold off the force that suddenly appeared from behind.

Using the reserve force at the very beginning of the battle meant that if there was a problem in either of the two defensive lines, the entire line would collapse completely.

The Inoue Zaemon Battalion also had no reserve force left. Even the battalion headquarters only had the battalion commander and three signalmen left. The remaining staff, guards, and engineers were all armed and sent to the front lines.

Battalion Commander Inoue Zaemon still didn't know that its reserve force had been completely wiped out.

The Fifth Regiment soldiers' attack from the rear of the Japanese soldiers was progressing very smoothly. The hastily built defensive works of the Inoue Zaemon Battalion and the Yamashita Daisuke Battalion, who were completely unprepared, couldn't be said to be completely useless.

In a hurry, they ordered the soldiers to build defenses on the spot. Such defenses were about to collapse under the Fifth Regiment's six battalions, which swept the area with heavy machine guns pushed to the front, and the continuous bombing by mortars and infantry guns.

Company Commander Ito Haruto watched in horror as the dark mass of troops charged up. The Japanese machine gun fire under his command was destroyed by the enemy's mortars.

The rifle fire was suppressed by the enemy's heavy machine guns, and the rifle bullets couldn't stop the enemy's carts from advancing.

This scene made the Japanese soldiers of the Ito Haruto Company despair. Half an hour ago, they had confidently entered this defensive position, and were even thinking of launching a counterattack.

Only half an hour had passed, and many of the Japanese soldiers who had marched with them were lying on the ground as corpses.

More than half of the entire company had been killed or wounded. If there was a way to escape now, Company Commander Ito Haruto would have liked to leave this battlefield.

But now they were being attacked from the front and back. Even if they wanted to escape, there was no way to go to heaven or earth.

What was different from the Japanese soldiers' situation now was the Third Regiment, which was attacking from the front.

Regiment Commander Zheng Tianan of the Third Regiment had already ordered the entire regiment to attack. Captain Ji had placed the Fifth Regiment's attack direction in the direction of the Third Regiment.

Of course, he had to take it well, defeat the Japanese defenses on the front as soon as possible, and then expand to the left and right, completely eliminating the Japanese soldiers on this line of defense.

The soldiers of the Third Regiment had already fought the Japanese soldiers for the second time today. The soldiers' movements were obviously much more skilled. The tactical movements they had learned on the training ground could now be put into practice.

When they first went to the battlefield yesterday, they were too nervous to fully exert their combat power.

According to the current equipment and personnel of a regiment of the Special Operations Brigade, the weapons were several times better and the number was half more than when it was first established. With such strength, it was completely possible for a regiment to attack a city.

Ji Wudi used two regiments to attack the city, cooperating with a regiment of the Fifty-first Division, and there were also planes in the sky to help. In fact, she understood in her heart: When fighting, weapons and equipment were one aspect, and the soldiers' morale and combat proficiency were also key factors affecting combat effectiveness.

Today, the tactics of the Third Regiment were all summarized by the Special Operations Brigade through countless battles: heavy machine guns pushed in front, and small units followed behind the heavy machine guns.

Mortars and infantry guns provided cover from further behind, destroying the Japanese machine gun fire points on the advance. Some suddenly emerging machine gun fire points were dealt with by the rocket launchers that followed the heavy machine guns.

At this time, Ji Wudi didn't know that Gao An behind her had already been occupied by the Japanese. She was still directing four regiments to launch a final attack on the Japanese soldiers on the Shengmi Street defense line.

Regiment Commander Kanda Masatane had now shaved off his iconic mustache and put on a merchant's outfit, only taking a translator with him. He was now a businessman who came to Shengmi Street to do business.

The last infantry battalion in his regiment, the Utsunomiya Hideki Battalion, had just reported: The entire battalion was engaged in the final battle, and the reinforcement team led by Guard Company Commander Kuki Shota had been completely annihilated.

All the reports had only one meaning: The Utsunomiya Hideki Battalion was finished, the entire Kanda Masatane Regiment was finished, we must be loyal to the Emperor, Regiment Commander, do what you think is best.

So Regiment Commander Kanda Masatane disguised himself as a merchant and began his escape.

The situation of the Inoue Zaemon Battalion and the Yamashita Daisuke Battalion was not much better now. In fact, they were even more miserable now.

The two battalions were surrounded in the middle. The infantry battalions of the Special Operations Brigade had already stormed the positions and were fighting the Japanese soldiers in close combat.

It was the first time for the Fifth Regiment soldiers to fight the Japanese soldiers in bayonet combat on the battlefield. It would be a lie to say that the soldiers were not afraid.

But seeing that there were only twenty or thirty Japanese soldiers on the other side, and their side had a full three hundred men, a ratio of ten to one, the soldiers, led by the squad and platoon leaders, charged towards the Japanese soldiers.

Combat teams of three men were fighting the Japanese soldiers with bayonets. The combat team composed of An Yichang, Yuan Shisan, and Ji Wumou charged to face a Japanese soldier.

An Yichang thrust out with his rifle, and the Japanese soldier blocked it. Yuan Shisan also thrust out with his rifle from the side. Shirakawa Tatsuya hurriedly blocked again, but his body was retreating.

Shirakawa Tatsuya knew in his heart: three people were fighting him alone, and these three didn't seem to be rookies, and they were attacking in coordination. If he didn't escape, he would die here sooner or later.

He was already looking for a way to retreat. At this moment, Ji Wumou fired a bullet from the submachine gun in his hand, "Bang."

Then he stepped forward and used the rifle in his hand to give the injured Japanese soldier another bayonet thrust.

An Yichang wasn't surprised. The bayonet that he had just retracted was quickly thrust out. Shirakawa Tatsuya never thought that the soldier on the other side was so cunning: it was already three against one, and they were still attacking with bayonets and bullets.

When cleaning up the battlefield, Ji Wudi received the news that Gao An had been taken back by the Japanese, and that Xiangfu Temple was also being frantically attacked by the Japanese.

Ji Wudi only left a company of the Fourth Regiment at Xiangfu Temple. They were now being attacked by the Japanese, and the battle had been very fierce from the beginning.

Ji Wudi ordered the attack aircraft at Shanggao Airport to immediately take off and provide support. She personally led the Second Regiment back to reinforce, while the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Regiments continued to clean up the battlefield. The Fifth Regiment established a defensive line in Shengmi Street, the Fourth Regiment garrisoned Dacheng, and the Third Regiment was stationed in Dacheng as a reserve force, ready to reinforce various places at any time.

At this time, Gui Junxiong, the company commander of the First Company of the Fourth Regiment, was loudly ordering the soldiers, "Hold on for five minutes, our planes will be here!"