gnovel Chapter 13, Line 4: The warehouse is still there, Shanghai is still there.
Chapter 13, Line 4: The warehouse is still there, Shanghai is still there.
Xie Jinyuan, with his hands behind his back, sighed deeply and said:
"I don't know. If they suffer heavy casualties, the First Battalion will take their place."
"yes!"
As Yang Ruifu spoke, he pondered how long Li Jianghe's two hundred men could hold out.
One day? Or two days?
Yang Ruifu leans towards the former.
On the outer perimeter, Li Jianghe deployed the purchased S-type anti-personnel mines on the front and sides of the warehouse.
If the Japanese army launches a frontal assault, there is a possibility of triggering landmines.
Machine gun firepower was deployed on both flanks.
In particular, the MG34 general-purpose machine gun, with its extremely high rate of fire, can be directly switched to heavy machine gun mode after being fitted with a tripod.
In addition, there was a sufficient quantity of hand grenades.
The good news is that this time, Li Jianghe's own merit points will not be consumed.
Because the entire Sihang Warehouse contained a large amount of ammunition previously stored there by the 88th Division.
Li Jianghe immediately ordered Long Wenzhang to take his men to the warehouse and move fifty boxes of hand grenades to the outer perimeter of the position.
At dawn, the Japanese 9th Division was marching arrogantly along the road.
(Historically, it should have been the Marines who fought the Nationalist Army at Sihang Warehouse. This change is to allow the Ninth Division and Li Jianghe to rekindle their past relationship.)
Behind them, many buildings were already filled with Japanese soldiers.
They shouted "Long live the Emperor!" there, while planting the Rising Sun Flag high in the sky, claiming control of the land.
One of the Japanese platoons was passing by the entrance of the Sihang Warehouse with great arrogance.
The leading Japanese platoon leader held his Type 38 rifle high, with a human head stuck in the tip of the bayonet.
They were Nationalist soldiers killed by them.
Upon witnessing this scene, the Nationalist soldiers inside and outside the Sihang Warehouse clenched their fists, burning with rage.
Li Jianghe raised the 98K in his hand and aimed it at the Japanese squad leader who was holding his head high and acting extremely arrogantly.
"Bang!!!"
A gunshot rang out.
The bullet hit its mark precisely, and the Japanese squad leader swayed and fell to one side.
Almost instantly, the firing positions inside and outside the Sihang Warehouse, with rifles, machine guns, and submachine guns, opened fire simultaneously, spraying the Japanese troops with bullets.
Screams, curses, and roars filled the streets, and the arrogance of the Japanese army was suddenly dampened.
Commander Ryosuke Yoshizumi of the 9th Division was being interviewed by a reporter from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, proudly recounting the 9th Division's "glorious" achievements.
"Our division has annihilated tens of thousands of Chinese troops in the Shanghai area and has completed the occupation of the entire city."
"Afterwards, we will continue to advance westward until we capture their capital and then force them to sign the surrender document."
Yoshizumi Ryosuke gripped his katana tightly, a cold smile playing on his lips.
Just as the Japanese reporter was about to speak again, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out, like a slap in the face to Yoshizumi Ryosuke.
"Da da da!!!!"
"Bang bang bang!!"
"Boom!!!"
Gunshots and explosions continued to ring out, and Yoshizumi Ryosuke's face grew increasingly grim with each echo of gunfire.
Chief of Staff Hiroshi Nakagawa, who was standing nearby, saw this and gestured for the reporter to proceed.
"Mr. Ozawa, that concludes today's interview. We need to attend to some military matters."
Ozawa glanced at Yoshizumi Ryosuke and noticed that his hand gripping the katana was trembling slightly. After bowing and saying goodbye, he turned and left.
After the reporter left, Yoshizumi Ryosuke asked in a cold voice:
"Wasn't it said that the Chinese troops in this area had been completely wiped out? Why are there still gunshots? And so frequently at that."
Hiroshi Nakagawa lowered his voice and said:
"They might be some small groups of troops still putting up a stubborn resistance. Don't worry, we will wipe them all out."
Yoshizumi Ryosuke slammed the scabbard of his sword onto the ground with a bang, looking in the direction of the Four-Line Warehouse.
"His Excellency the Commander has said that a victory banquet will be held at eight o'clock tonight. I think he certainly doesn't want to enjoy this dinner amidst the gunfire of the Chinese."
Hiroshi Nakagawa hurriedly said:
"Hai, we promise to wipe out all these enemies by nightfall, no, by noon today!!"
Outside the Sihang Warehouse, on the street ahead, the Japanese had already left behind more than a dozen corpses.
Some of the wounded are struggling to crawl away.
Before they could climb very far, the Nationalist soldiers on the Sihang Warehouse killed them all, leaving no one alive.
That was just a small Japanese squad, only about forty or fifty men in total. Li Jianghe didn't earn too many merit points in this operation.
After all, the battalion of soldiers in the Sihang Warehouse were also firing, and these men were not under his command.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the river in the United Concession, Shanghai residents flocked to the riverbank, their eyes fixed on the warehouse.
At the top of the warehouse, the flag of the Republic of China fluttered, rustling in the wind like a silent cry.
"The army is still resisting; Shanghai hasn't fallen yet!!!"
Someone shouted.
"Good for them! Kill these Japanese bastards!!!"
"Who said Shanghai is lost? As long as they're still here, Shanghai isn't lost!!"
"Oh dear, what kind of war is this? It would be great if it were over soon. Whether the Chinese are occupying the land or the Japanese are occupying it, it's all the same."
"You filthy bitch, you courtesan who knows nothing of the sorrow of a fallen nation! You're still singing 'The Song of the Rear Courtyard' across the river, do you even know that the Japanese are beasts?!"
"Oh my, who are you calling a bitch...?"
Amidst the crowd, various voices mingled together, but the majority were filled with excitement.
The order from Yoshizumi Ryosuke of the 9th Division was quickly relayed to the front, where Nakagawa Hiroshi, commander of the 9th Division, personally took command.
"Lord Nakagawa Hiroshi, you actually came in person, but you are just a remnant of defeated soldiers."
The speaker was Fujita Tadayoshi, the commander of the Fujita Regiment under the 9th Division.
He is 1.73 meters tall.
In the Japanese army, where people were generally short in stature, he was considered a "giant".
At this point, you even need to bend down to make eye contact with Hiroshi Nakagawa.
"The division commander attaches great importance to this area, after all, it is the area we are responsible for clearing. A victory celebration banquet will be held tonight, and the commander-in-chief does not want to eat while listening to the gunfire of Chinese troops resisting."
Moreover, many domestic journalists will also come to report on the Imperial Army's occupation of Shanghai.
The existence of this warehouse will cause our Imperial Army to lose face completely.
Fujita Tadayoshi puffed out his chest and said:
"Hai, I will organize the troops to attack immediately. We will definitely take it before nightfall."
"No, before noon."
Hiroshi Nakagawa glanced at the time on his watch.
It's 8:30 in the morning.
"By the way, artillery cannot be used, otherwise it may damage the concession and provoke protests from Britain and the United States," Hiroshi Nakagawa reminded.
"Oh dear..."
Fujita Tadayoshi was somewhat embarrassed.
After all, what they do best is bombard with artillery, charge with infantry, and then bombard with artillery after the infantry has charged.
Now that there's no artillery bombardment from the front, and only infantry are charging in, facing a heavily fortified building like the Sihang Warehouse, they're bound to suffer considerable casualties.
But his answer remained firm and resolute.
"Hai!!!"
Hiroshi Nakagawa's gaze was icy as he looked across at the flag of the Republic of China, which was still fluttering in the wind, its gleaming appearance under the rising sun in the east.