A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Song Hongfei was referring to the position of the 522nd Regiment of the 261st Brigade, located southeast of Yinxingwei, northeast of the 87th Division headquarters in Yejia Garden, Jiangwan.

Just like the place name Jiangwan, the Huangpu River flows from south to north and then to the northwest, making a large bend here. It is surrounded by the Huangpu River on the south, east, and north sides, and the Wusongkou, where the enemy's heavy troops landed, is to the northwest.

This area was originally a vast, flat suburb with few villages. The new city center and the newly built municipal government building, planned under the "Greater Shanghai Plan" of the Shanghai Special Municipality, are located in this area. Museums, libraries, stadiums, schools, factories, and roads have been built around it.

The current focus of the struggle between the two sides is the Luodian, Yuepu, and Wusong area on the western front. In the Jiangwan area, the Japanese army has replaced the marines who have been fighting hard for more than half a month with a part of the 3rd Division of the Army. They have launched multiple attacks on our army's Jiangwan defense zone, captured Yinxing, and are trying to continue to consolidate and expand the positions along the river.

For several days, both sides have been attacking and defending, but neither can gain the upper hand, and the two sides are locked in a stalemate.

However, air superiority was already in the hands of the Japanese army, and the artillery of the enemy marine corps stronghold in Yangshupu and the enemy warships patrolling the Huangpu River bombarded our positions with fierce artillery fire.

All I saw along the way were ruins and rubble, with houses destroyed by Japanese bombs everywhere. The wooden bridges over the streams had also been burned down, leaving only blackened wooden stakes. Looking around, the magnificent palatial new city hall had long been riddled with holes by aerial bombs and artillery fire.

Many new graves have appeared in the wilderness, dotted with white paper flowers. Every now and then, one can see some civilians who were killed by the Japanese army. No one has claimed their bodies; they are unrecognizable and shocking to behold. From afar, a suffocating stench of decaying corpses wafts through the air.

Song Hongfei felt heavy-hearted. Once the war started, it would mean devastation and widespread destruction.

"boom!"

From time to time, Japanese artillery shells would occasionally fall sporadically from the distant positions, exploding into fireballs that mixed with sand and dust, accompanied by muffled cannon fire.

After another round of intense Japanese artillery bombardment, thick black smoke billowed into the sky, obscuring the sun. Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 522nd Regiment of the National Revolutionary Army took advantage of the lulls in the enemy bombardment to quickly rest and repair their fortifications amidst the dust and smoke.

Urban warfare, close-quarters combat, is the most brutal and deadliest form of fighting.

Song Hongfei said, "Our army has only conducted field training and has never received urban street fighting training, let alone the technical equipment and training for assaulting fortified positions. It is already a shortcoming to deal with urban assaults with conventional field experience. Our troops and firepower are also dispersed. Facing the enemy's strong fortifications, although we fight bravely, we suffer huge losses and achieve very little."

Wang Youping sighed, “Our army is already extremely short of large-caliber heavy artillery. In addition, due to concerns about Japanese bombing and the firepower of Japanese naval guns, we can only use them in single or double guns. The deployment positions are also far from the front line, and the accuracy is not enough to destroy strongholds.”

Song Hongfei pointed to the soldiers who were resting and repairing their fortifications and said, "Along the way, I noticed that our soldiers were building defensive fortifications and firing positions in the face of the street and in the middle of the intersection, directly exposed to enemy fire. To be honest, such simple sandbag and earthen fortifications do not need heavy artillery, and cannot even withstand a single 75mm grenade."

Song Hongfei then pointed to the buildings on both sides of the street: "I suggest that every road and intersection be blocked and sealed off with obstacles, and that sturdy buildings be used as the core of the defense. We should connect the gun emplacements and bunkers with hidden bunkers and concealed gun emplacements, and connect them with trenches to form a three-dimensional ring-shaped defensive fortification with a certain depth. We should use the open areas of the streets and intersections as the kill range of our defensive firepower! We should dig more anti-artillery holes on the back side, and if conditions permit, we should cover the trenches with roofs, which can greatly reduce the exposure of our personnel to enemy firepower."

Wang Youping nodded: "Good idea! This will help us build a strong fortress. Let's fight fire with fire!"

Wang Youping added: "When our army attacked the Japanese strongholds, every passage was blocked by the enemy's strong roadblocks. The Japanese used armored vehicles as mobile fortresses, guarding four or five-story high buildings on both sides to block the downward fire, and used tanks to counterattack."

"The Japanese army, positioned on high ground, observed every move of our army. When the 2nd Battalion of the 215th Regiment of the 36th Division launched a fierce attack, it was suddenly suppressed and blocked by the enemy's heavy artillery fire. Subsequently, the enemy dispatched a large force and tanks to carry out a counterattack. Our attacking troops were cut off from the front and rear and blocked in the streets and alleys. They were killed by the enemy's concentrated fire and flamethrowers. The battalion commander and more than 300 officers and soldiers all died heroically."

Song Hongfei couldn't help but sigh: "The most brutal and tragic aspect of street fighting is that if our army does not make use of every street and every building to build strong fortresses to kill the enemy, then the enemy will use them instead. However, our army's heavy firepower of aircraft, tanks and artillery cannot compare with that of the enemy."

"Commander! Chief of Staff! What brings you to the front lines?"

Yi Anhua, the commander of the 522nd Regiment, had received a notice from the division headquarters that the division commander, Wang Youping, would be coming to inspect the front line. However, he waited and waited but no one came. Later, he learned that the division commander did not come to the regimental headquarters at all, but went directly to the 2nd Battalion's position. Yi Anhua hurriedly ran from the regimental headquarters to the 2nd Battalion.

Wang Youping was observing the Japanese positions in the distance through binoculars. After several days of attack and defense, both armies had focused their attention on the western front in the direction of Luodian. Neither side was able to launch a large-scale offensive in the Jiangwan area. The two sides faced each other at a distance of 6 to 7 meters, occasionally engaging in small-scale infiltration and harassment.

However, this is only a temporary calm before another major battle begins.

“I have received reliable intelligence that the Japanese army will be sending a large number of reinforcements soon, and a major battle is imminent. I’ve come to check on your regiment’s position and preparations.” Wang Youping put away his binoculars. “Let me introduce you. This is Colonel Song Hongfei from the Training Corps.”

"So it's Colonel Song Hongfei! I've heard so much about you! I've admired you for so long, and today I'm finally able to meet you!" Yi Anhua was both surprised and delighted.

Yi Anhua was filled with gratitude for the renowned Song Hongfei, whose light weapons designs greatly enhanced the troops' combat effectiveness. At the same time, he felt that Song's reputation was indeed well-deserved.

Song Hongfei also had a good impression of the 522nd Regiment commander, who was tall and strong, with bright eyes and a fierce military bearing.

"Commander Yi, I've heard so much about you!"

When Song Hongfei said he had long admired him, it wasn't just flattery. He knew that this Commander Yi had served as a major general and brigade commander during the Battle of Nanjing, leading his troops in a fierce resistance against the enemy at Zhonghua Gate. He was wounded but refused to retreat and ultimately died a heroic death.

"Fate is cruel..." Standing before him, yet knowing full well that the future would be that he would become a martyr, Song Hongfei felt a complex and subtle mix of emotions that were hard to describe.

Song Hongfei looked towards the observation balloon over the Japanese positions in the distance to the northwest, which was in the direction of Wusongkou, and asked, "Can our anti-aircraft guns shoot it down?"

These artillery observation balloons may look bulky and have low survivability, but in good weather, they can clearly observe the effects of friendly artillery fire and the location of enemy artillery positions, and then guide long-range heavy artillery fire to cover the area.

During the Battle of Shanghai, the Chinese Air Force attempted to shoot down Japanese observation balloons, but failed due to Japanese aircraft interception and intense anti-aircraft fire. After gaining air superiority, the Japanese became even more brazen with their observation balloons.

Wang Youping shook his head helplessly and said, "The Japanese have learned their lesson. They are now more than two or three thousand meters away from our positions, which is beyond the effective range of our 20mm cannons. We can only conceal and deploy anti-aircraft general-purpose machine guns in the forward positions to force the enemy to stay away from the airships."

Yi Anhua said: "When the Japanese army attacked, they first sent out aircraft to bomb and straf the enemy, then raised observation balloons to guide naval guns and long-range heavy artillery to bombard the enemy, and finally used armored vehicles to cover the infantry attack."

Song Hongfei said, "Airplanes bomb, artillery bombards, then infantry charges, then artillery bombards again! The Japanese army's three-pronged attack never fails."

Wang Youping said, "I have inspected your regiment's positions. They are basically arranged in a second line, which has a certain depth, but this is far from enough! We need to strengthen the tiered deployment in depth, build more camouflage targets, and set up more firing positions for general-purpose machine guns."

"Troop deployment should be light in the front and heavy in the back. Only necessary observation and guard posts should be left at the front, while the main force should be concealed and stationed in the rear anti-artillery fortifications. When the enemy infantry charges, they can enter the trenches to reduce the damage from enemy artillery fire. In the future, all positions should be deployed according to this principle."

"Yes, I will immediately order all battalions and companies to construct their positions in this manner!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

At this moment, accompanied by a huge explosion, the Japanese naval guns and large-caliber heavy artillery launched another round of fierce bombardment!