Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

"But, sir," Honda said cautiously, "our army has been fighting hard for days, and we have indeed suffered losses. If we could get reinforcements..."

"Honda-kun," Okamura Neiji interrupted him, his tone filled with unquestionable confidence: "The Second Division is the elite of the Empire, why would they need support from the Taiwan garrison?

The Luodian position was impregnable, and the Chinese army's several counterattacks were all defeated.

If we accept reinforcements now, won't people laugh at our Second Division's incompetence?"

Honda nodded in agreement, but added, "Your Excellency is wise, but according to intelligence, the Chinese army is reorganizing its defenses southwest of Luodian and does not seem to have given up its counterattack plans."

Okamura Neiji chuckled, walked back to the map, and pointed his finger heavily at the location of Luodian: "Let them come! Every counterattack will weaken their strength.

Our army relies on strong fortifications and has sufficient naval and air firepower support. This is an excellent opportunity to wait for the Chinese army to tire out and consume its manpower."

He turned to face Honda, his eyes sharp: "Instruct all troops to strengthen their positions, especially at night, they need to increase surveillance points.

Although the Chinese army lacks heavy weapons, their suicide squad charges should not be underestimated."

"Hi!" Honda bowed in response.

Okamura Yasuji stood alone in front of the nautical chart. On the surface, he expressed disdain for the reinforcements of Shigeto's detachment, but in his heart he was clearly aware of the severity of the war situation.

The Second Division did suffer heavy casualties and the officers and soldiers were exhausted, but he must not show weakness. This was not only related to his personal honor, but also to the status of the Second Division in the Imperial Army.

At this moment, a staff officer outside the door hurried into the command room, holding a newly decoded telegram in his hand, with an excitement on his face that was hard to conceal.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander! Urgent message from headquarters!" The staff officer's voice trembled slightly: "Our second large-scale reinforcement has set off for Shanghai!"

Okamura Neiji raised an eyebrow as he took the message and quickly scanned its contents. As he read deeper, a smile gradually broke out on his tense face.

The telegram showed that in order to speed up the progress of the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese military headquarters immediately sent the second batch of reinforcement divisions, the 9th Division, the 13th Division, the 101st Division and the 5th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade to the Songhu battlefield in China.

"Great!" Okamura Neiji expressed a rare excitement. "Yoshizumi Ryosuke's 9th Division is the Empire's elite, Ogisu Rikuhei's 13th Division is also battle-hardened. Even the 101st Division, though primarily composed of reservists, has Ito Masaki, a general skilled in tough battles."

He walked over to the large battle map and traced his finger from the Yangtze River estuary to the area surrounding Shanghai. "Three divisions plus a heavy artillery brigade... Headquarters is going to resolve the Shanghai battle in one fell swoop!"

Honda added: "According to the telegram, these troops will arrive in succession within five days.

By then, our total military strength in the Shanghai area will exceed that of the Chinese defenders."

Okamura Neiji pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What instructions does Commander Matsui have?"

"General Matsui ordered all divisions to hold their current positions and, upon the arrival of reinforcements, to immediately launch a general offensive to defeat the main force of the Chinese army and occupy the entire Shanghai area."

Okamura Neiji nodded, his eyes gleaming with ambition. "Reply to General Matsui, the Second Division must hold its position. When the general offensive is launched, we will be the vanguard!"

He turned to Honda and said, "Immediately call a meeting of all the regiment commanders. We must further consolidate our positions before reinforcements arrive. At the same time, we must intensify reconnaissance and identify the weak points in the Chinese defense line."

. . . . . . . .

On the Luodian front, the Japanese Second Division is stepping up efforts to consolidate its positions.

Although Okamura Yasuji refused to send reinforcements, the Second Division had actually been fighting hard for many days and suffered heavy casualties.

This time, nearly half of the troops in the division were new recruits transferred from the Kwantung Army to Shanghai.

It was this group of new recruits who rushed to the front and suffered the most casualties.

This was an order issued by General Okamura Yasuji himself. He needed these new recruits to experience the baptism of war and complete the transformation from new recruits to veterans as quickly as possible.

He knew that there was another big battle waiting for him.

In the center of Luodian Town, the Japanese engineering corps was directing ordinary Chinese people captured from nearby to serve as laborers to reinforce fortifications.

A crisscross system of trenches was dug around the town, with concrete machine-gun nests and observation posts set up in key locations.

On the river bank east of the town, the Japanese army laid dense minefields and barbed wire to prevent the Chinese army from crossing the river to attack again.

"Hurry up! Slow Chinese pig!" A Japanese sergeant waved a whip and whipped a Chinese laborer who was a little slower.

The laborer staggered and continued to carry the sandbags with difficulty.

The surroundings were filled with captured Chinese civilians, including the elderly, children, and women, and were monitored by Japanese soldiers holding rifles.

No one knows what the end will be for these Chinese people...

The ruins of the town hall have been cleared and converted into a more solid underground command center.

The communications corps laid new telephone lines to ensure smooth communication between the various positions.

At the same time, in the southwest of Luodian, the Chinese army was also stepping up efforts to build a defense line.

Chen Cheng realized that the arrival of Japanese reinforcements would change the balance of the battle, so he ordered his troops to take a defensive stance, dig deep fortifications, and prepare for a protracted battle.

The remnants of the 67th and 14th Divisions were reorganized and supplemented with a small number of new recruits and ammunition.

The 11th and 98th Divisions, which had temporarily retreated to the rear of the front line to rest, were replenishing supplies and ammunition and were ready to provide reinforcements at any time.

The officers and soldiers silently dug trenches and set up obstacles in the mud.

Everyone knows that more brutal battles are yet to come.

The front line temporarily fell into an eerie calm, with occasional exchanges of fire between the two sides, but large-scale offensives stopped.

Like the calm before the storm, the air was filled with tension.

Beneath this calm surface, both sides were actively active. The Japanese army sent a large number of reconnaissance teams to try to find out the Chinese army's defense layout and troop deployment.

The Chinese army also kept sending scouts to investigate the movements of the Japanese army.

Scouts from both sides shuttled back and forth in the battlefield, and the occasional gunshots were the result of the two sides meeting each other.

. . . .

As news of the imminent arrival of Japanese reinforcements came, the tension in the Songhu battlefield intensified.

Commanders at all levels of the Chinese army knew that an unprecedented large-scale offensive was brewing.

Chen Cheng convened a meeting of senior military officers and analyzed the situation with a grim expression: "Ladies and gentlemen, intelligence shows that three Japanese divisions and one heavy artillery brigade are on their way to Shanghai.

Together with the existing 2nd and 12th Divisions, the enemy's total strength will exceed 200,000, which means that the upcoming battle will be even more brutal."

He walked to the map and continued, "Although our army has reinforcements, they are at a disadvantage both in terms of arrival time and equipment.

We must take advantage of the existing conditions to maximize the depletion of the enemy's manpower and buy time for the arrival of reinforcements from the rear."

After the meeting, all troops stepped up their preparations for war. The artillery adjusted their firing parameters, the engineers reinforced their positions, and the logistics department tried every possible way to raise ammunition and food.

Medical staff also set up more first aid stations behind the front lines to prepare for the large number of wounded.