A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Looking at the Chinese army's deep positions so close at hand, Ito Hiroshi felt a sense of unattainability, and the boastful ambition he had before the battle—to sweep Jiangwan in one fell swoop—was gone.

He was now in a difficult position. The Chinese army facing him was extremely resilient. His battalion had attempted several deep attacks, but each time the enemy blocked the breakthrough with fierce, multi-layered firepower, preventing any expansion. The Nationalist army was also constantly launching counterattacks with small elite units, an unusual tactic that kept his battalion busy.

If Ito Hiroshi had a god-like perspective and knew about Song Hongfei's flexible defense deployment, he would probably be even more desperate.

As per Song Hongfei's requirements, the flexible defense system consists of three main parts: the outpost warning area, the forward defense area (main position), and the reserve area.

In this battle, the forward outposts immediately proved to be of great importance once deployed. They could not only prevent Japanese reconnaissance and direct artillery fire, but also delay the enemy's attack formation. The expanded defensive depth also greatly reduced the Japanese artillery advantage.

Both the forward defense area and the reserve area are configured in multiple layers, with at least two levels of basic positions and auxiliary positions. Several lines of positions are constructed in stages, with solid fortifications, forming a ring-shaped defense system.

What Ito Hiroshi had no idea was that his reinforced battalion had launched several fierce attacks, suffering heavy casualties, and had only captured the basic positions in the forward defensive area of ​​the 522nd Regiment. Several subsequent attempts to break through the enemy's defenses were repelled by the Nationalist army's tiered defenses, and they could no longer advance, becoming embroiled in a stalemate over the auxiliary positions.

Itō Hiroshi's battalion was extremely frustrated to discover that the positions they occupied had been severely damaged by heavy artillery, and all the firing positions were facing their rear, making them impossible to use directly against the Chinese troops in front.

The National Revolutionary Army's 75mm mountain guns and 82mm mortars had already set firing parameters for the Japanese-occupied positions. Guided by forward observation posts, they continuously made adjustments, and the elusive shells were incredibly accurate, causing increasing casualties among the Japanese.

Because the Japanese army was unable to conduct reconnaissance of our rear positions before the battle, their long-range artillery could only bombard indiscriminately. Although the bombardment was impressive, it was not very effective in striking our rear positions. The Type 92 infantry guns and grenade launchers accompanying the infantry attack were obviously no match for our artillery and were quickly suppressed by our army.

Our 37mm anti-tank guns, positioned in the rear, calmly and steadily engaged the Japanese machine gun positions one by one with direct fire.

Seeing the Japanese soldiers screaming and yelling as they were bombed, their severed limbs and Type 92 heavy machine guns flying into the air with them, our soldiers felt a surge of exhilaration, frequently erupting in cheers. Since the start of the Battle of Shanghai, our army had suffered greatly from Japanese artillery fire; now it was the Japanese devils' turn to be bombed—how could we not feel ecstatic!

Under the alternating fire of various artillery pieces from our army, the Japanese firepower was immediately weakened. The once invincible Ito Battalion was now suffering terribly from the suppressed firepower, and the Japanese soldiers wished they could bury their heads in the ground.

But the arrogant Japanese army was naturally unwilling to retreat, and even less willing to give up the positions they had finally managed to capture.

Several Japanese naval carrier-based aircraft flew in from outside Wusongkou and circled continuously over our troops in Jiangwan, attempting to find our artillery positions and carry out bombing and strafing.

Our artillery was already prepared. After a rapid volley of fire from the mountain guns, they quickly moved to a new position. Two 20mm anti-aircraft gun companies and more than 10 Type 24 anti-aircraft machine guns from two other companies, which had been secretly deployed, opened fire fiercely. The anti-aircraft fire, mixed with streaks of tracer rounds, crisscrossed the air, forcing the Japanese aircraft to not dare to strafe at low altitude.

Japanese planes circled for a long time but could not lock onto our artillery. Their only occasional success was dropping a large number of bombs on the fake positions set up by our troops.

The pilot of one of the Japanese planes seemed to be enraged. He rolled out of formation, adjusted his direction and lowered his altitude, and swooped down from the sky. The machine guns on both sides spat out two tongues of fire, fearlessly facing the rain of bullets from our anti-aircraft forces, strafing our positions all the way before rising again.

It would be an injustice if our army didn't take down such an arrogant troublemaker first!

"Damn it, those little devils are too arrogant! If you want to come and die, I'll grant your wish!" Qiu Yuanpeng, the 20mm anti-aircraft gun company commander of our army, glared at the enemy plane with a cold light in his eyes, spat out a mouthful of saliva, and immediately ordered several anti-aircraft guns to adjust their firing direction and aim at the arrogant enemy plane.

The anti-aircraft machine gunners also tacitly agreed to use their anti-aircraft sights to block the enemy aircraft's low-altitude strafing routes.

The enemy plane turned around and came back, then lowered its nose and strafed at low altitude again!

They really are asking for trouble!

Several of our anti-aircraft guns and machine guns had been waiting for it to come and die, so they concentrated their fire! The interwoven tracer rounds formed a fire net in the air, completely enveloping it!

The anti-aircraft machine guns fired armor-piercing rounds, leaving a trail of bullet holes in the wings and fuselage. The Japanese plane emitted black smoke and then caught fire. The Japanese pilot, who was lucky enough to escape unscathed, desperately tried to stabilize the already teetering plane and fled towards Wusongkou, leaving a thick trail of black smoke behind.

A deafening cheer erupted from our positions! Morale soared instantly!

Seeing that our air defenses were prepared, the other Japanese planes dared not bomb at low altitude anymore. They hastily dropped their bombs haphazardly from high altitude and hurriedly turned and fled.

The Japanese army finally tasted the bitterness of being bombed without being able to fight back. Ito Hiroshi became increasingly irritable and impatient. If the stalemate continued without a result, he feared that his battalion would not be able to hold the occupied positions.

Ito Hiroshi then contacted Regiment Commander Colonel Takamori Takashi, requesting that large-caliber naval guns and heavy artillery be used to bombard the Chinese army's defensive area, which was 400 meters away from the occupied position and had two fronts 500 meters wide and 500 meters deep!

Takamori Takayuki almost vomited blood on the spot when he heard that.

He did a quick calculation and realized that even with the minimum ammunition consumption of 200 rounds per hectare for a 0.5 square kilometer area, large-caliber artillery shells would still be needed! If they were to fight like that, not to mention whether the Shanghai Expeditionary Army had enough large-caliber artillery shells in reserve, the Imperial Army would probably be bankrupt in a few days!

Takamori Takashi was furious and reprimanded Ito Hiroshi: "Ito-kun! The Navy is already dissatisfied with the Army for consuming too much of their ammunition. They're not that generous! Those Navy guys keep asking us to provide the exact location of the Chinese garrison's fortifications! The division artillery commander, Fujita, is also demanding that we pay attention to the accuracy of artillery fire!"

Ito Hiroshi's heart sank. He cursed inwardly, "How can he provide that information? The only accurate location he can provide is the fortifications on the ground beneath his feet."

Takamori Takaya knew that Ito's battalion had plunged headlong into the carefully prepared tiered defensive perimeter of the Chinese army, suffering heavy casualties and making extremely difficult progress. Furthermore, without artillery fire, they simply couldn't succeed; was Ito Hiroshi really expected to risk his life?

Takamori Takashi then said to Ito Hiroshi, "I will request artillery support from the division commander again. The regimental artillery company and the field artillery battalion attached to the division will provide you with artillery support directly, and we will use up today's ammunition! Ito-kun! I hope you will uphold the honor of an Imperial soldier and the Bushido, and serve His Majesty the Emperor!"

A strange feeling welled up inside Ito Hiroshi. Did these words mean that if he couldn't take the Chinese army's position, he would have to commit seppuku to atone for his sins?

"Hai! Commander! I will serve His Majesty the Heavenly Locust!" No matter how arrogant Ito Hiroshi was, he could only bow and scrape respectfully at this moment. "I will use the blood of the Chinese army to pay tribute to the samurai swords of the Imperial warriors!"

If Song Hongfei knew about the Japanese army's predicament, he might scoff: "Damn, so stingy! What's the point of fighting if you don't have money? Hurry up and go back to the Japanese islands! War is all about burning money; if you don't have money, you'll pay with your lives!"

Upon discovering that the Chinese army had deployed anti-tank guns on its front lines, which the incompetent army soldiers were unable to deal with, Lieutenant Kameda, the burly naval armored vehicle commander, worried about damage to the vehicles. He strongly demanded that the armored vehicles could only flank the Chinese positions from the side, and requested that infantry follow closely behind the armored vehicles to coordinate the attack.

The naval lieutenant, facing Lieutenant Commander Ito Hiroshi, seemed to have a hint of arrogance in his tone, which really annoyed Ito Hiroshi. However, since he was the one who needed the lieutenant's help, he could only suppress his anger and resentment.

Lieutenant Kameda grouped the four armored vehicles into pairs. Each of these vehicles was equipped with five machine guns, allowing them to quickly retaliate no matter which direction they were attacked from. The entire formation resembled a mobile iron turtle formation.

In the past, Kameda's tactics would undoubtedly have been successful. For the Chinese Nationalist Army, which was poorly armed and lacked anti-armor capabilities, it would have been difficult to approach the heavily protected "Iron Turtle Formation" of the Japanese infantry and use explosive charges and cluster grenades to breach it.

Guided by the Ito Battalion, the Japanese naval guns and long-range heavy artillery behind the lines launched another fierce bombardment of our deep positions 400 meters away.

However, Ito Hiroshi himself was unsure of the effectiveness of the artillery barrage. The depth of the Nationalist army's positions had expanded to an unprecedented extent, something that had never happened before.

Ito Hiroshi launched a frontal attack with two squadrons, Nakata and Inoue, while Nomura's squadron, in coordination with naval armored vehicles, attacked from the left flank. Sakamoto's squadron, as a follow-up echelon, joined the frontal attack or launched a flanking attack on the right flank depending on the progress.

Our defensive positions immediately engaged the Japanese army across the entire front.