A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Lieutenant Colonel Lu Qiaoshan, the director of Liaison Point A, and Gao Muyu walked in.

Lu Qiaoshan said: "It has been found that Zhou Zhenqiang, deputy commander of the Training Corps, led the 2nd Regiment to Shanghai to participate in the battle. It was assigned to Zhang Wenbai's 9th Army Group as a directly subordinate reserve force. It is now attached to the 87th Division and is under the command of Wang Jingjiu, commander of the 87th Division and the forward commander of the Army Group. The division is currently fighting in the Wusong, Jiangwan and Yangshupu areas."

Song Hongfei immediately located the location on the map, and Lu Qiaoshan then gave him a general explanation of the current battle situation.

After several days of fierce attacks by the Nationalist army, the Japanese marines stubbornly resisted, relying on their strong fortifications, and awaited reinforcements. At this critical moment, the British again proposed mediation between the two sides. If they had the power to make such a proposal, that would be one thing, but they were just troublemakers, and the Japanese army did not buy into it at all.

However, the Nationalist government, which was always at the mercy of others, had no choice but to order a halt to the attack once again.

It was during this lull that two battalions of Japanese marines landed to reinforce the Japanese forces in Shanghai. This fresh force undoubtedly gave the Japanese troops in Shanghai a much-needed boost, making it even more difficult for the Nationalist army, which lacked strong offensive capabilities, to make progress.

Starting on August 23, the vanguard of the Japanese 3rd and 11th Divisions, under the cover of naval gunfire and air power, landed at the Wusongkou Railway Wharf, Shizilin, Chuanshakou, and Liuhekou areas, and attacked the Baoshan, Yuepu, Luodian, and Yunzaobang line, intending to outflank the National Revolutionary Army.

It is unknown whether Yu Zecheng was stunned when he learned of the Japanese army's move. This situation was exactly the same as the situation map drawn by Song Hongfei when they were still on the cruise ship sailing in the Indian Ocean half a month ago.

After the main Japanese army divisions reinforced the area, the National Revolutionary Army was attacked on its flank and was no longer able to eliminate the Japanese marines. The National Revolutionary Army mobilized its troops to counterattack the landing Japanese forces.

In the days that followed, the Battle of Shanghai intensified, with both sides launching attacks and defenses, resulting in a stalemate.

Lu Qiaoshan continued heavily, "The battles at Luodian and Yuepu were particularly fierce. Our brave and fearless 18th Army soldiers fought a desperate battle against enemy aircraft and naval guns with inferior equipment. The two sides fought back and forth repeatedly, and the casualties were extremely heavy. The latest news is that Luodian fell again yesterday."

Song Hongfei, familiar with the battles, was well aware of the Battle of Luodian. Lacking air and sea superiority and with firepower far inferior to the Japanese army, the officers and soldiers of the 18th Army resisted the enemy's powerful ships and cannons with their own flesh and blood, fulfilling their heroic vow to kill the enemy and serve their country before the battle.

Song Hongfei felt extremely heavy-hearted and murmured, "It's a meat grinder."

He stared at the map, deep in thought. The National Revolutionary Army had suffered heavy casualties and its offensive had failed, so it had no choice but to adopt a defensive posture. The Battle of Shanghai had entered a stalemate. He sighed inwardly: both sides were still continuously reinforcing their troops, and the offensive and defensive postures were reversed. The Japanese army had already shifted from a defensive posture to an offensive one.

A moment later, Song Hongfei said to Gao Muyu, "You should go back to Beijing directly. I need to go and see the 2nd Regiment of the Training Corps."

Gao Muyu was taken aback, then immediately said, "Then I'll go with you. Director Chen Liren of the First Secretariat gave me a strict order: you must be protected until you safely return to Beijing from Shanghai. Otherwise, I will be unable to report back to the Secretariat."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiaoshan was secretly astonished, his mind immediately racing. He thought to himself, "This young master of the Song family is truly highly regarded by the high-ranking officials of the Military Commission. My goodness, he's being specially accompanied by the Imperial Guard—who else receives such treatment? With this important figure here today, I must make a good impression. If only I could befriend him in the future..."

Song Hongfei was somewhat surprised and touched. He said, "Guns and cannons on the battlefield don't discriminate. You don't need to risk your life with me. You can go back and report now. I will take full responsibility for all the consequences."

Gao Muyu resolutely replied, "I am also a soldier. How can a soldier be afraid of going to the battlefield! A soldier's duty is to obey orders, and I must carry out Director Chen's orders to the end."

"Well done!" Song Hongfei deeply admired this spirit. There was no need for formalities between soldiers. He reached out and patted Gao Muyu on the shoulder: "Then come with me to the battlefield and give it a shot."

Lu Qiaoshan said, "The military spirit of the two of you is truly inspiring. I am familiar with the location of the 87th Division headquarters, so let me lead the way for you."

Song Hongfei served as a member of the liaison group of the German advisory group of the Military Commission. This identity allowed him to travel freely to and from various military units without any problems or obstacles. Moreover, many members of the German advisory group were indeed involved in frontline combat command, providing important assistance and reference to the National Revolutionary Army, which lacked modern warfare capabilities.

Although Lu Qiaoshan and Gao Muyu were not powerful members of the Attendant's Office Guard Group, they held a very high position, and others were eager to curry favor with them.

Song Hongfei insisted on going to the war zone for two reasons. First, he wanted to see firsthand the combat performance of semi-automatic rifles and general-purpose machine guns after they were equipped by other Nationalist troops. Second, he wanted to understand the tactics and combat characteristics of the Japanese army, since he himself had no experience fighting against the enemy's powerful combined land, sea, and air firepower, so that he could conduct targeted training when he returned to the Training Corps.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle – this has always been Song Hongfei's motto.

Lieutenant General Wang Youping, commander of the 87th Division and forward commander of the 9th Army Group, was quite surprised to learn of Song Hongfei's arrival, especially since he was accompanied by his personal staff. He was astonished that Song Hongfei had come so suddenly without any prior notification from the army group.

Wang Youping had dealt with Song Hongfei before. After the training corps' reorganization and advanced tactics were promoted in the German-equipped divisions, Song Hongfei's reputation soared. His 87th Division and other German-equipped divisions came to the training corps to observe and learn from their experience, but the two did not have much contact.

As soon as Song Hongfei entered the 87th Division headquarters, Wang Youping warmly extended his hand and said, "Welcome! Welcome!"

Song Hongfei snapped to attention and saluted in perfect military posture: "General Wang!"

Wang Youping returned the greeting, and Song Hongfei's gesture left a very good impression on him.

Song Hongfei said, "I apologize for coming so abruptly, Commander Wang."

Wang Youping laughed and said, "Not at all! My former teacher, now Dr. Song, is coming. I'd be more than happy to welcome him!"

The "little teacher" that Wang Youping mentioned refers to Song Hongfei, who used to give shooting demonstrations to the first few classes of officers at the Whampoa Military Academy every year when he was young. Mr. Sun Yat-sen specially awarded him the title of honorary instructor, and some first-term Whampoa students called him "little teacher".

Wang Youping was a member of the first cohort of students, and one of the few in the first cohort to be appointed as a lieutenant general in 36. This form of address brought the two of them much closer.

Song Hongfei got straight to the point, stating his purpose.

Wang Youping was immediately filled with a sense of awe.

Wang Youping knew that Gui Shuaizhen of the Training Corps had accompanied Special Envoy Kong on his visit to Europe, because the media had greatly publicized this "grand event of seeking to strengthen friendly relations." However, he did not know that Song Hongfei had secretly gone there midway through the trip, and he did not expect that Song Hongfei would go directly to the front line of the war zone as soon as he returned to China.

Both being straightforward leaders, the two stopped exchanging pleasantries.

Wang Youping introduced the battle situation in front of a huge war zone map: "Starting yesterday, the main forces of the Japanese 3rd and 11th Divisions have landed at various wharves in Baoshan and Yangshupu, transporting a large amount of equipment, military supplies and materials, and taking over the marine corps positions in Hongkou and Yangshupu. On the same day, they launched a counterattack on positions in Zhabei and Jiangwan. In Pudong, the artillery battle is fierce, and there are reports that the Japanese army is attempting to land."

Song Hongfei's expression was grave: "The situation is not optimistic."

Wang Youping sighed: "10 men joined forces to besiege and kill more than 1 of the enemy, but they failed; 30 men wanted to kill 5 of the enemy, but they still failed. Both sides are continuing to reinforce their troops. There is already intelligence indicating that the Japanese army will soon add 3 more army divisions, bringing the total strength to 15 men."

Song Hongfei said, "This battle was the first large-scale joint operation of our army, navy, and air force. To be frank, the coordination was very poor."

Wang Youping nodded: "Not to mention the coordination between the sea and the air, our army's training in infantry and artillery joint operations is extremely lacking. My 87th Division and the Training Corps observed and learned from each other, but we only learned some superficial things. Other non-adjustment divisions are even worse off, with hardly any artillery pieces. Apart from you, no other unit has ever done training in infantry and armored vehicle coordination."

"Our army didn't understand modern warfare; our soldiers fought the enemy solely with their passion and iron will. When attacking enemy strongholds such as the Marine Corps headquarters and Huishan Wharf, due to a lack of understanding of how to coordinate with heavy firepower, even when men charged forward, they could only rely on grenades and explosive charges to get close enough to detonate, and were unable to break through the enemy's fortified positions. The enemy then launched a counterattack, bombarding them with heavy artillery, aircraft, and naval gunfire. Two entire battalions of our army in one attack wave were filled with the enemy's sea of ​​fire with their living flesh and blood."

Wang Youping became increasingly grief-stricken as he spoke, his eyes already red-rimmed.

The people in the 87th Division command post had sorrowful expressions, and there were faint sobs spreading through the air.

Song Hongfei, Lu Qiaoshan, and Gao Muyu were deeply saddened. They had known that the battle at the front was going badly, but they had not expected the situation to be so difficult and so tragic.

"Our country is a backward agricultural nation. When we fight against modern industrialized nations, facing opponents with far superior technology, we always have to pay a bloody price. This is the most painful lesson history has taught us," Song Hongfei said slowly. "However, we cannot let our martyrs sacrifice in vain! We must learn from and summarize the valuable experience that our martyrs gained with their lives, learn in battle, and grow in battle! Only then will the blood of our martyrs not have been shed in vain!"

"Although we are still unfamiliar with modern warfare, it has its own rules and characteristics. We can no longer simply and rigidly follow the concepts and tactics used in the domestic battlefield under low intensity and low firepower conditions! The Japanese army has the advantage of three-dimensional firepower in land, sea and air. Our army's position setting and tactical implementation must first consider how to defend against air, artillery, and heavy firepower to cause large-scale casualties."

In front of so many professional staff officers and commanders at the 87th Division headquarters, Song Hongfei spoke calmly and eloquently.

Among those present were lieutenant generals, major generals, and even colonels of the same rank as Song Hongfei, but no one felt arrogant or conceited. On the contrary, they all considered it perfectly reasonable and natural. Many of them had observed the tactical training of the Training Corps, studied Song Hongfei's published articles, and some had even attended his classes at the Army University. Moreover, even a lieutenant general division commander addressed him as "little teacher"—who could object?

Song Hongfei knew that Nationalist officers had long been influenced by outdated modern military thought, and the Whampoa Military Academy had completely copied the Soviet Union's experience. The early classes lacked systematic modern military education; they were more like crash courses, hastily graduating and immediately going to the battlefield to lead troops. They simply and rigidly followed the military academy's educational and training theories. In the Northern Expedition and the Civil War, they basically followed the Soviet Union's concept of staggered, wave-like assaults.

With the help of the German advisory group, the adjustment and reorganization divisions also received some education and training in modern military concepts and tactics. However, this could not be changed overnight, nor could it be learned by reading a few articles or attending a few classes. It required rigorous and arduous training and actual combat.

However, due to limited material conditions, the National Revolutionary Army had few realistic training and exercises. Even the infantry of the adjustment division had only a few live-fire training sessions a year, and live-fire artillery firing was even rarer. So how could artillery coordination and infantry-tank coordination be discussed?

Song Hongfei couldn't help but feel regretful, realizing that he could only learn through battle, making unnecessary sacrifices on the cruel battlefield, paying the price in blood as tuition.