Quartermasters can also fight the devils

"Your Excellency the Regiment Commander, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff, the Second Battalion has suffered serious losses. There are only 593 officers and soldiers in the entire battalion. I think we must change our tactics. The defensive combat capability of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government is indeed outstanding." Major Oshima Hisatada of the Second Battalion directly expressed his views to the Regiment Commander, Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi, and Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki at the post-war meeting.

The commander of the 3rd Battalion, Major Katsuo Toriumi, remained silent. His troops did not participate in the previous attack, but when he was watching the battle from behind, he saw through the telescope the difficult attacks of the 1st and 2nd Battalions and the defensive capabilities of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government. He did not think that his 3rd Battalion would be stronger than the 1st and 2nd Battalions, so he thought it would be best for him to keep quiet and wait for the results of everyone's discussion. He only needed to execute the plan discussed.

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Okabe Kanichi, also frowned and asked everyone: "What kind of changes do you think we should make in our tactics to occupy the defensive positions of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese Government?"

Colonel Kanichi Okabe, the commander of the regiment, felt that he did not need you to raise questions now, but what he needed now was a solution to this problem. Didn't he know that he had to change his tactics? The reason for stopping the attack was to find a suitable way to solve the problems encountered in the attack. Otherwise, why would he stop the attack himself?

When it comes to solutions, no one in the meeting spoke for a while. They also had no good way to solve the problems encountered in the offense.

Needless to say, Major Hisatada Oshima of the Second Battalion, if he had thought of a good way to solve the problems during the attack, his troops would have rushed into the defensive positions of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government long ago, and he would not have been able to hold a meeting here in such a frustrating manner as he is now.

The captain of the 3rd Battalion, Major Katsuo Toriumi, in the pragmatic spirit of "no participation, no right to speak", simply lowered his head and stared at the ants under his feet in a daze. If you didn't know, you would think he was communicating with the ants in a friendly manner.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki has always played the role of a senior messenger. He feels that now should be the time for the regiment commander, Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi, to establish his prestige and show his intelligence. He will not make random suggestions without consideration. He only needs to add details to the method proposed by Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi and implement it in detail. This is the basic professional accomplishment of a good chief of staff.

Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, commander of the 41st Regiment of the Japanese Army, is now trying hard to control his urge to curse. He feels that when the critical moment comes, he can't rely on his right-hand men. Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe glanced at the people in front of him, and his mind was quickly thinking of a solution. As the commander of the regiment, he must come up with a combat plan at this time, otherwise his prestige will be greatly reduced.

Use special bullets? It seems impossible. The wind direction is not right now. The special bullets fired will be blown to our side by the wind here. We can't use special bullets to hurt our own troops.

Increase the intensity of artillery fire? The artillery unit of the 104th Division has worked very hard. The caliber of field artillery is so large. The defensive position built by the new nd Army of the Chinese government is still very solid. It is obvious that they have done a good job in anti-artillery work.

"Let's do this, let the officers and soldiers have a good rest. It's already afternoon now, and it will be dark soon. I decided that at three o'clock in the morning, all the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion will sneak into the Chinese army's position 300 meters in front of the night. At 7:30 in the morning, the artillery will bombard the Chinese army's defensive positions for two minutes. At the same time, all the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion will launch a charge towards the Chinese army's positions. The officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion should be prepared and ready to support the battle in front at any time. Do you understand?" Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, the regiment commander, said to everyone.

Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe thought for a long time, but he couldn't think of any good idea. He could only use this combat plan that might result in heavy casualties to launch an attack. This can also be regarded as a new combat plan.

When everyone heard the battle plan proposed by the regiment commander, Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi, they all relaxed. They were afraid that Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi would ask them to come up with a battle plan. If the plan they came up with was different from that of the regiment commander, or better than the plan that the regiment commander had thought of, it would be troublesome.

"Your Excellency the Commander, this new combat plan will surely catch the Chinese government's new 132nd Army off guard. We will be able to successfully occupy the defensive positions of the Chinese government's new nd Army tomorrow. Tomorrow is also the time point for the nd Brigade to complete the task assigned by the headquarters." Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki promptly flattered Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi.

The commander of the 3rd Battalion, Major Katsuo Toriumi, also hurriedly told the commander of the regiment, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, that his troops would definitely follow the new combat plan to defeat the defensive positions of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government and win the first victory for the 5th Division on the battlefield on the west bank of the Pearl River in the Battle of Yangcheng.

When Major Hisatada Oshima of the Second Battalion heard what the two men said, he immediately despised them in his heart. He thought it would be more practical to care about his own Second Battalion.

"Your Excellency the Regiment Commander, the Second Battalion currently has only half of its full strength. I am worried that the Second Battalion will not have enough troops to complete your orders for tomorrow's attack." Major Hisatada Oshima did not follow others in flattering the Regiment Commander, Colonel Kanichi Okabe. Instead, he pointed out the problems in his own troops first, so that the attack would not fail tomorrow due to insufficient troops in his Second Battalion.

"Well, Captain Oshima, the officers and soldiers of the squadron that withdrew from the First Battalion will be temporarily incorporated into your Second Battalion for combat. This will make up for the combat power of the Second Battalion, and it can basically complete the designated new combat plan." The commander of the regiment, Colonel Kanichi Okabe, also felt that the Second Battalion of Major Hisatada Oshima really needed to replenish its combat power, otherwise the Second Battalion with only half of its combat power would find it difficult to complete its mission during the attack.

After receiving a squadron of reinforcements from the regiment commander, the commander of the Second Battalion, Major Hisatada Oshima, was also satisfied. For him, this meeting was firstly for complaining and secondly for replenishment. Now these two goals have been achieved. His Second Battalion will only serve as a reserve force to take over the attack tomorrow, and has also received reinforcements from the remaining forces of the First Battalion. This is the most satisfactory result.

"Okay, everyone, get ready. We must break through the defensive positions of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government tomorrow. If we fail to complete the mission, everyone should commit suicide. Then I will lead all the officers and soldiers of the 41st Regiment in a desperate charge. Even if I die, I will fall on the road of charge like a samurai." The regiment commander, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, changed the subject at the end.

Colonel Kanichi Okabe had to tell everyone the worst outcome, which was also to encourage everyone to cheer up. If the mission was not completed, then all of them would have to live in humiliation or die heroically.

On the defensive position of the new 210th Division, all officers and soldiers took the time to rest and eat after the Japanese army retreated. They knew that according to the experience of fighting with the Japanese army in the past, the Japanese army would launch a more fierce attack after reorganizing the troops. They must reserve their mental and physical strength to deal with the subsequent attacks of the Japanese army.

But what surprised all the officers and soldiers of the new 210th Division was that the Japanese army did not launch an attack before dark as they had imagined, which made all the officers and soldiers of the new 210th Division both happy and disappointed.

I was happy that my defense mission seemed to be completed smoothly, but I was disappointed that everyone didn’t seem to have had enough fun and everyone felt a little unsatisfied.

"Division Commander, why don't you talk to the military headquarters and have us defend Shunde for one or two more days? We all feel that we haven't had enough of fighting the Japs." The commander of the front-line troops of the new 210th Division found Division Commander Cai with a flattering look on his face and told him the request of the officers and soldiers of the army.

Commander Cai himself also felt that this defensive operation was not satisfying. The defensive tactics learned from the new 100th Division were indeed very effective. Once the sharpshooters were organized to shoot down the Japanese officers, the rest of the Japanese soldiers would be like that. Without organization, the soldiers could not exert the overall advantage.

"Okay, we all have to fight this battle. Tell all the officers and soldiers that the future defensive battles will be fought like this. Also, have someone bury the explosives on the position tonight. The Japanese will definitely launch an attack tomorrow. After the explosives are buried, leave a platoon of officers and soldiers to detonate the explosives, and the rest of the officers and soldiers will retreat to the designated location to assemble. We should guard the passage between Sanshui and Nanhai." Commander Cai also calmed the troops' desire to fight. At the same time, he did not forget to leave a farewell gift for the Japanese army on the opposite side.

The officers and soldiers of the new 210th Division also followed the order of Division Commander Cai and began to dig deep pits in the trenches. For a while, the positions of the new 210th Division became busy, which made the Japanese officers and soldiers responsible for reconnaissance in the distance believe that the new nd Army of the Chinese government was strengthening their defensive positions to prepare for tomorrow's battle.

When the news of the new 210th Division's massive construction on the battlefield reached the commander of the st Regiment, Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi, he could not help but admire the ever-vigilant spirit of the Chinese government's new nd Army. He also felt in his heart that it would not be an easy task for his st Regiment to occupy Shunde City as required by the headquarters tomorrow.