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墨書 Inktalez
The Japanese began to slowly retreat, the overwhelming numerical disadvantage causing their casualties to steadily increase. With no hope in sight, the Japanese started to crumble.
Two companies of Japanese soldiers resisted the frantic assault of a Kuomintang regiment for nearly two hours before they finally began to withdraw.
The Japanese left behind over a hundred corpses, taking turns to cover each other as they retreated from the outer positions of Luodian, leaving behind a batch of mortars without shells and some rifles with pitifully few bullets.
The battlefield was littered with bodies, many dressed in faded blue military uniforms, and some yellow-skinned Japanese corpses were also visible.
The flag of One Team fluttered over the Japanese position, announcing that the position had changed hands.
The Second Battalion Commander led the Second Company in pursuit of the Japanese but retreated in disarray after less than a mile. The Japanese displayed their superior marksmanship in mobile combat; within just five hundred meters, over twenty soldiers from the Second Company were shot dead, most of them headshots from veteran Japanese soldiers. The Second Company soldiers were too frightened to show themselves.
The Second Battalion Commander felt somewhat disheartened. After returning, he sat alone at the edge of the trench in silence, smoking one cigarette after another.
The sun began to radiate scorching energy over the desolate land, waves of heat swept across the area, and the morning coolness had vanished. The soldiers' anger had been ignited by the Japanese.
Around the positions, there were cries of wounded soldiers, with medical personnel rushing back and forth and recovery officers collecting identification tags from fallen comrades.
There were too many bodies; there was no time to bury them properly. They could only hurriedly cut off the identification tags from their chests and gather them for unified notification of casualties by Division Headquarters.
Hu Lian arrived at the frontline positions from the regiment command post, his brow furrowed. The behavior of the Japanese today was very strange.
Hu Lian had previously experienced their strong combat capabilities and unwavering fighting spirit, yet today they were retreating so quickly, and the firepower configuration at their positions was also unusual.
"Xu Chief of Staff, don't you think something is odd about the Japanese today?"
"Regimental Commander, I have also been pondering this issue. Why haven't their naval guns or aircraft come to support today? They are merely retreating quietly after abandoning their positions; I find it quite puzzling!"
"The problem lies here; the Japanese are acting very unusually. Their proud artillery advantage seems to have vanished? Could it be that they have run out of ammunition? If so, I would rather believe that their artillery is on holiday today!"
"Regimental Commander, could it be that the Japanese have adjusted their attack direction? Is Luodian no longer a key target?"
Hu Lian shook his head: "Impossible. As long as the Japanese break through Hengdian, they can advance straight in without needing to change targets now! Moreover, there is no position in the entire Shanghai area more important than Luodian. As long as Luodian stands, Shanghai stands; if Luodian falls, Shanghai is doomed!"
As Hu Lian fell into thought, Kuomintang soldiers had already begun celebrating their victory. However, this victory felt somewhat tragic for them.
The Nationalist Army suffered over five hundred casualties, with eighty-two severely injured and more than seven hundred lightly wounded. In a not particularly intense siege battle, nearly half of the soldiers in the Sixty Regiment were lost, while the Japanese Army had fewer than one hundred casualties.
Tie Zhu felt anxious and fearful, but as the sounds of gunfire on the battlefield faded away, he gradually calmed down. Many began to search for their unit, and Tie Zhu and Wang Shunliu supported each other as they looked for their regiment. They found the Deputy Company Commander at the edge of a trench: "Deputy Commander, Li Tiezhu and Wang Shunliu reporting back!"
The Deputy Company Commander turned around, his face marked with blood and two clear streaks of tears: "Good, good, good. It's good that you're back."
"Deputy Commander, what's wrong? Where are the brothers in the unit?"
Upon hearing Tie Zhu's words, the Deputy Commander suddenly wailed: "Company Commander! The Company Commander has sacrificed himself. Including you two, there are fewer than thirty men left in the unit; the rest of the brothers have all fallen!"
The Deputy Company Commander could no longer hold back and knelt on the ground, desperately pounding it with his fists, pressing his head against the earth, his body convulsing.
Surviving soldiers from One Team crawled out of the trench and grabbed hold of the Deputy Company Commander, but their eyes were hollow, devoid of their usual spirit.
This was One Team's first hard battle and also the most difficult one. Previously, on domestic battlefields, when artillery fired, the enemy would flee; they only needed to chase after them.
Before today, they thought that the Japanese were just like that—two shoulders carrying one head. Who was afraid of whom? Were the Japanese not human? Could they really turn into devils?
During mealtime, One Team was still joking and laughing; the atmosphere was harmonious. They thought it would be just like before—after firing artillery, they would charge forward.
However, when the charge sounded and One Team's soldiers approached the Japanese Army position, they realized how wrong they were—terribly wrong.
The Japanese were not frightened by artillery fire and did not retreat. What awaited One Team's soldiers was not an empty position but a rain of death composed of bullets.
In the first wave of assault, half of One Team's soldiers fell. The remaining soldiers sought various hiding places to take cover. Like Tie Zhu, they hid in certain spots on the battlefield, trembling.
The Japanese marksmanship dealt a heavy blow to Second Company. Nationalist Army soldiers within one hundred fifty meters of the Japanese position were systematically targeted by Japanese soldiers, nearly wiping out the remaining One Team fighters.
The Japanese retreated, but the war was not over. Tie Zhu and Wang Shunliu had no time to catch their breath before orders came down from above: hold the position and block enemy advances.
Defending is always easier than attacking; however, to defend easily, one must learn to dig a proper trench!
Tie Zhu and Wang Shunliu did not have time to grieve when the liaison officer from the camp rushed over. The mission for One Team had arrived; they needed to build a position nearby to prevent a counterattack from the Japanese Army.
Due to the heavy casualties from the recent assault, One Team was assigned to defend an area near Luodian, close to the town, relying on a small river. The area that needed defending was not very large, and the Battalion Commander had promised that once the reserve troops arrived in the evening, they would reinforce them with a platoon.
“Shunliu Brother, are we going to die too?” Tie Zhu asked absently while working on his official duties, suddenly blurting out the question.
Wang Shunliu stopped shoveling, grinned, and said, “You silly boy, what are you talking about dying for? I still want to wait until we win the war and go home to marry a wife. Don’t say such gloomy things; when that time comes, you can block the door, and I’ll give you more wedding candies.”
“But Company Commander, Erzi, and Old Man are all dead. I didn’t even get to see them one last time!”
Wang Shunliu slapped him on the head. “Stop thinking nonsense. Just dig the trench properly; otherwise, if a bomb from the Japanese falls down, you’ll be in trouble.”
“Shunliu Brother, you hit me again! If you hit me more, I’ll become stupid.”
“…”
At eleven o'clock sharp, the 66th Regiment was urgently repairing their defensive works when a low rumble like thunder echoed in the sky as enemy planes appeared one by one.
“Air raid! Japanese planes! Take cover!”
The first to react was Deputy Company Commander Zhang Biao, who was currently acting as Company Commander. He jumped out and shouted loudly at the soldiers of Second Company.
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