The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 51 It’s time for Hu Biao to show off

...before receiving the order and leading about one hundred Sichuan Army brothers to the battlefield.

My fellow time travelers and I, like hamsters before the arrival of winter, are trying our best to make final preparations; even though we have made a lot of preparations, we ourselves don’t know whether they will be of any use.

In the end, it turned out that these preparations were basically useful.

This also made me develop a habit from then on. Before the war, I would do whatever it took to get equipment and supplies. As a result, I often argued and fought with friendly forces...

...Excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection "Hu Shuo"...

Before traveling through time, Hu Biao, who had made a intensive study of the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, knew that the Sichuan Army would be fully engaged in the war in the next few days, although it was impossible for him to remember all the details clearly.

Therefore, given the limited time, we naturally dare not delay at all.

He asked the kitchen staff to make some porridge with canned beef cubes, which provided some oil and water for the entire third company.

Hu Biao, Black Star, Uncle Bo, and Da Hammer were busy selecting the elite soldiers in the company and formally forming an assault team and a sniper squad.

Naturally, the other newcomers who came through would not be left idle, and they each had some different arrangements.

For the remaining soldiers of the Third Company, Huang A-di was mainly responsible for the construction of civil engineering works; for example, he taught them how to reinforce and set up machine gun fire points, how to repair anti-artillery holes, etc.

The guy Chaozi is responsible for anti-tank technology.

This includes digging anti-tank trenches and traps, and how to make Molotov cocktails to attack tanks using simple materials such as gasoline, sugar, and rubber pellets.

Use light and heavy machine guns equipped with steel core bullets to attack the tank's fragile tracks and side armor, etc.

Anyway, we should try our best to avoid the scene at Position No. 7 where people rushed forward with explosive packs, or even smashed tanks with kitchen knives or gun butts.

Even AT, the white-collar worker who seemed to be the weakest physically, was assigned an important task:

Make two conscienceless cannons, which are the kind of flying thunder cannons that use a reinforced large iron barrel to project a large explosive pack.

Regarding the conscienceless cannon, its accuracy is completely mysterious, and whether it can hit the target depends entirely on luck. Modern time travelers naturally know this.

The key question is, isn't there anything that can be done about it?

Hu Biao wanted to get two mortars or even an anti-tank gun.

The key point is that they have limited pearls and penicillin. If they want to exchange for more things, I guess Director Sun and the people behind him will not agree.

In desperation, they could only tinker with this kind of homemade cannon which was easy to make and powerful enough.

The premise is that in combat, the AT, a white-collar worker, can really calculate the complex contents such as angle, charge amount, and flight weirdness, so as to hit the target.

Just like that, after the assault team and sniper squad were formed.

The entire third company did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately began practicing various air defense, artillery defense, fire assault, key sniping and other tactics.

Because the time is too tight, I can't guarantee the training effect, but it should be a considerable improvement over the previous three companies.

Perhaps the noise from the training of the third company was too loud, and soon it attracted Commander Xiang and other officers in the regiment.

After just a short while, they discovered all the wonderful things about it and immediately suggested to Hu Biao that the other squad leaders and platoon leaders of the 804th Regiment should come and learn from it.

After learning it, promote it throughout the group.

With the idea that it doesn't matter if you let one sheep go or drive a flock of sheep, Hu Biao agreed.

After all, if their various tactics were placed in later generations, they would definitely be considered amateurs among amateurs; but in this era, especially among the Sichuan Army, they could be greatly improved...

******
Before I knew it, two days had passed and it was October 10th, 13:5 pm.

At the Battle of Shanghai Nationalist Army headquarters in Nanxiang Town, Chen Xiuci was standing in front of a large map, carefully studying the current battle situation, when he suddenly heard a sentence:
"Reporting to Commander Chen, an urgent message has come from the front line: the Dunwu Temple position has been lost.

The defenders at Chenjiaxing have suffered heavy casualties and are beginning to collapse. We urgently request support."

After hearing the above report, even Chen Xiuci, a civil engineering tycoon with a high status and position in the government, suddenly changed his expression. This was because Dunwu Temple and Chenjiaxing were two key points in the current Yunzaobang defense line.

I need to explain here that people in Shanghai like to call rivers that are not too big "bang".

The so-called Yunzaobang is actually the third largest river in Shanghai after the Huangpu River and Suzhou River. The widest part of the river is 100 meters, and the narrowest part is 50 meters.

Since the Japanese successfully landed in early September, many strategic points such as Wusong and Luodian have been lost one after another.

Today, the Yunzaobang River, which is 20 kilometers long from Jiangwan Town to Miaohang, Dachang, and Nanxiang, is the most critical defense line of the national army.

If Yunzaobang is lost again, the national army will probably have to retreat to the Suzhou River and fight the final defense of the Magic City area.

By then, hundreds of thousands of troops will be trapped and guarded in a small area, and the war situation will only become more passive; this Battle of Shanghai is also on the verge of complete failure.

So many people died, including the elite troops under the bald principal.

Such a result would definitely be a disaster for the entire government.

Therefore, Chen Xiuci quickly realized that the position of Chen Jiaxing must not be lost and must be defended at all costs.

At the same time, the Dunwu Temple, a temple built during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, along with the surrounding positions, must also be recaptured from the Japanese.

Otherwise, it will cause a series of chain disasters.

But even though he knew it, Chen Xiuci was faced with an extremely huge problem.

Chen Jiaxing's current crisis is not so bad. We can let our artillery unit launch an emergency round of artillery suppression, and then send a small-scale force to stabilize the position.

At night, we can just relieve Chen Jiaxing’s troops that suffered heavy losses.

But which unit will be able to recapture the Dunwu Temple and hold on to it during the inevitable and crazy counterattack by the Japanese?
You must know that in the previous battles, many elite troops such as the Teaching Corps, the German-equipped Division, and the Central Army had already suffered heavy losses. Do we have to send the 20th Army of the Sichuan Army?

However, the Sichuan Army's equipment level was so poor that even he frowned when he saw it.

They had only been in the Magic City for three days, and their bodies were exhausted from the long journey, so they probably hadn't recovered yet?

After some deliberation, Chen Xiuci, whose troops had suffered heavy losses and were almost completely without any soldiers left, could only issue an order with great helplessness:
"Pass on my order, the 2nd and 10th Artillery Regiments, immediately open fire on the devils in front of Chen Jiaxing.

The General Tax Police Corps dispatched a battalion to support Chen Jiaxing, and they must hold out until nightfall when new troops arrived to relieve him.

Also, tell Yang Sen that the 20th Army of the Sichuan Army will go out in full force after nightfall to attack the Dachang and Chenjiaxing front lines. The key is to recapture the Dunwu Temple and hold it firmly."

A few minutes later, Yang Sen, the commander of the 20th Army, ripped open the disciplinary button on his uniform and cursed:
"Damn it, it's finally our Sichuan Army's turn to fight."

By the way! What do you think of Yang Sen?
The story that was passed down through later generations about him being arrogant, extravagant, licentious and cruel is not wrong. After all, it is true that he had 12 wives and concubines, 43 children, and even married a 90th concubine at the age of 12.

But no matter how bad he was, his performance in the Battle of Shanghai was quite good.

Ever since he led his troops across thousands of miles to the Magic City, he had been feeling frustrated because his subordinates were treated like beggars by their superiors and friendly forces due to problems with their equipment and appearance.

They had long been prepared to fight a good battle to let the people know that the Sichuan Army were also good men.

He immediately ordered the 20th Army to move out after nightfall, except for leaving two brigades as mobile forces.

As for the task of retaking the Dunwu Temple, after a brief consideration, it fell on the 804th Regiment.

After a while, after receiving the latest order, Commander Xiang Wenbin of the 804th Regiment took a look at the darkening sky.

I thought about that kid Hu Biao who made a fortune from somewhere yesterday morning. The third company now has equipment that even I would be jealous of.

There are also tactics practiced in the past two days, various targeted trainings, etc.

It was immediately decided to let this guy and his third company serve as the vanguard for the entire regiment.

He waved and called over one of his orderly soldiers, then gave instructions: "Go tell Hu Biao of the third company that now is his time to show his abilities..."

(End of this chapter)