How dare you disobey the Regiment Commander's orders?
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“Fellow countrymen! Lay down your arms!”
“Lay down your arms and you’ll be spared!”
During their first battle against the Japanese, some soldiers spotted enemy troops isolated, wounded, or even surrounded.
They immediately strained their voices shouting for the Japanese to surrender.
They did not realize that the Japanese had no idea what they meant by “fellow countrymen.”
Nor were they fellow countrymen in the first place.
Even the wounded Japanese fought to the very last moment.
They inflicted heavy casualties on the attacking forces.
“The enemy’s movement, marksmanship, concealment, and even bayonet skills are all far superior to ours.”
“Exactly. Look at the way they fight with bayonets. They operate in groups. The moment one man is exposed, another immediately covers him...”
“With coordination like that, most of our soldiers are no match for them!”
Before the battle, the commanders who had drawn up the battle plan had already overestimated the Japanese soldiers’ combat strength as much as possible.
But no one had expected the Japanese to be so much stronger than the White Dog troops!
Commander Cheng let out a faint sigh.
Given the short preparation time, they had already done fairly well.
Still, he bore some responsibility for the heavy casualties his troops had suffered.
He had assembled the main forces of two battalions and deployed them all on the ambush positions.
He had also brought out more than half of their entire reserve of ammunition and grenades.
It was all to ensure overwhelming firepower in the first volley—to kill as many Japanese as possible and reduce the soldiers’ casualties.
Yet now, it seemed to have produced the opposite effect.
The battle had reached a stalemate.
But he had not prepared a reserve force.
Under such circumstances, if fresh troops joined the battle, the balance of victory would be shattered in an instant.
If Commander Cheng were given the chance to start over, he would rather expend every last reserve, empty the unit’s entire stockpile, and abandon all thoughts of future hardship.
That would still be better than the bayonet battle unfolding before him!
Watching the number of casualties rise, Commander Cheng’s heart ached terribly.
Just as regret began to consume him, a staff officer shouted a warning:
“Commander, some of the Japanese are trying to escape!”
“Which direction?”
“Northwest!”
The northwest was the weak point of the encirclement—and also the direction from which the Japanese had come.
“Have the Sixth Company commander take his men up there!”
“Hello! Hello! Get me Sixth Company. Sixth Company, can you hear me?”
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After calling for a long while, no one answered.
Commander Cheng’s face darkened.
“Send my guard platoon immediately. We absolutely cannot let those bastards get away!”
“Yes, sir!”
The guard platoon was also known as the escort platoon or pistol platoon.
Because it moved together with regimental headquarters and was responsible for security, its men were generally equipped with pistols and submachine guns.
They were suited to close-quarters combat and possessed formidable firepower.
Naturally, they could play a considerable role in a bayonet battle like this.
This was also the only force Commander Cheng still had available to deploy.
Lowering the binoculars in his hands, Commander Cheng glanced over everyone present.
He once again drew the box pistol from his waist.
“Comrades, the battle is at a critical juncture. Staff Officer Zhao, gather everyone who can carry a weapon and send them all into the fight!”
“Yes, sir!”
Bayonet combat was unimaginably brutal. Life and death were often decided in a single instant.
A thrust.
A stab.
Steel went in, and red steel came out.
It was an immense test of the human spirit.
“KILL!”
Commander Cheng threw back his head and roared, his voice carrying for several hundred yards.
The soldiers who heard him were instantly filled with renewed morale.
“It’s the commander!”
“The commander is watching us!”
“Stay sharp! Kill the Japanese!”
“Kill!”
...
Headquarters of the New First Regiment.
“Report, Commander. Political Commissar...”
“It seems something has gone wrong in the direction where the 772nd Regiment set its ambush. A large number of Japanese have broken through the encirclement and are fleeing toward us!”
Li Yunlong was stunned. He found the situation utterly unbelievable.
The 772nd Regiment was a regular-numbered regiment. It even had mortars, and it was not short of either light or heavy machine guns.
Some of its men were also equipped with automatic rifles.
After their earlier campaign against Yan Xishan, the weapons they had captured gave them firepower vastly superior to that of their own unit.
“Damn it! Cheng the Blind can’t even swallow a few hundred Japanese? How the hell did he become a regimental commander?”
Zhong Zhicheng furrowed his brows deeply and hurriedly warned him:
“Something isn’t right. In theory, this shouldn’t have happened...”
“I’m worried that the Japanese may simply be too strong—or that some other factor is at work. That may be why Commander Cheng and his men lost control of the situation.”
Li Yunlong nodded.
“Order Guan Dashan to distribute all the reserve grenades to the front line. Send every remaining bullet up there as well. Have the entire reserve force fix bayonets and stand ready to reinforce them at any moment!”
“Yes, sir!”
..............
Headquarters of the Fifth Division.
Seishiro Itagaki paced back and forth.
Dusk was drawing near.
Still, no new reports had arrived.
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The vanguard of the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade was under pursuit and attack by the Fourteenth Group Army and was requesting reinforcements.
The commander of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade, Koji Sakai, had also sent a telegram.
He reported that their latest logistics and transport unit had lost contact.
They judged that it had been ambushed by Chinese forces.
The relief force had been blocked, and there had been no word from Yuanping City.
Now, not only was the vanguard of the 11th Independent Mixed Brigade in danger of being annihilated.
Even the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade seemed to have fallen into an enemy encirclement.
At the very least, a previously unknown Chinese force was active in northwestern Shanxi.
It had also wiped out one of their transport units.
“Commander, should we continue dispatching troops to provide support? The Shibuya Regiment has completed its replenishment and rest. It can return to the battlefield and continue fighting!”
Itagaki tilted his head toward Chief of Staff Toshiharu Nishimura.
The Shibuya Regiment had previously suffered heavy losses at Ruyue Pass.
It had now spent half a month resting in the county seat of Fanshi.
Chu Yunfei could be considered Colonel Shibuya’s old adversary.
After a brief hesitation, Seishiro Itagaki nodded.
“Send a telegram to Shibuya immediately. Order them to depart and provide support tomorrow!”
“Yes, sir!”
At that moment, in Yuanping City, the soldiers were working in shifts to haul materials and reinforce the defensive line.
Determined to win this battle, Chu Yunfei had not rested either.
While inspecting the city, he lent the soldiers a hand.
Seeing that they were short of manpower, he stayed to help carry supplies for a while.
His pristine white command gloves had already been set aside.
He bent over and cleared away the stones in front of him.
Then he called to a young soldier nearby:
“Come here, come here! Carry this!”
“Yes, Commander!”
The young soldier called for several men to come over.
Chu Yunfei gestured to them.
“Lift it higher. Careful—it should be quite heavy. Don’t drop it on your feet!”
Several soldiers hurried forward.
“Commander, we can handle it ourselves!”
Chu Yunfei raised an eyebrow.
“Stop dawdling. Come on, get it on your shoulders!”
Sun Ming was standing nearby as well.
“Are you deaf? You heard the commander. What are you waiting for? Move it!”
“Up, up, up! Careful, everyone...”
“Put it in the cart. That’s right. You need to use your heads when you work. Learn to cooperate—it’ll save a lot of effort.”
Chu Yunfei paused, then swept his gaze over the men and called out in a clear voice:
“Brothers, bear with it a little longer. The men at the front are counting on these materials to reinforce their positions!”
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