A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

The next morning, Zhou Zhenqiang was almost stunned by the overwhelming news of the 87th Division's great victory in the newspapers. Holding a newspaper, he smiled at Song Hongfei and said, "It's like a flower blooming inside the wall but fragrant outside. You've become a hero behind the scenes."

Song Hongfei said nonchalantly, "As long as we can fight the Japanese, what does personal honor matter?"

Zhou Zhenqiang laughed loudly, "You're quite the character, remaining calm in the face of both honor and disgrace!"

Song Hongfei added, "By the way, I saw quite a few familiar faces from the Training Corps in the 87th Division?"

Zhou Zhenqiang said with a hint of helplessness, "You don't know, while you and the commander-in-chief were visiting Europe, several other units equipped with new firearms offered high prices to poach our troops. As long as someone went there, they would be promoted one rank, from squad leader to platoon leader, and from platoon leader to company commander! Some veteran sergeants went, after all, becoming an officer is every soldier's dream, and it concerns the soldier's future. We could only reluctantly give them up."

This made Song Hongfei somewhat embarrassed, because he himself had been the one to start poaching talent from other companies for the sake of the newly formed 3rd Regiment.

"It's about branching out and spreading out," Song Hongfei smiled smugly. "Fortunately, I don't think I saw anyone from the 3rd Regiment."

Zhou Zhenqiang glanced at him and said, "Don't get cocky, kid!"

Song Hongfei said, "The 87th Division used the flexible defense tactics that our brigade has been training in for this battle. When counterattacking, it combined frontal assaults with flanking attacks, which achieved good results in the face of the Japanese army's combined land, sea and air firepower. Although our brigade is well-trained, it lacks combat experience. This battle can provide a good reference for our brigade."

"There are still many areas for improvement in this battle, such as insufficient depth and echelon configuration of defensive deployment, lack of proficiency in flank maneuvers, poor infantry-artillery coordination, and failure to master infantry tactics such as the 'three-three system' and 'small group multi-way attack'. We must learn from these experiences, draw lessons, make targeted improvements, and conduct realistic combat training."

"You've thought this through very well!" Zhou Zhenqiang nodded, then smiled and said, "Is that why you went to the 87th Division as soon as you got back?"

“Not entirely,” Song Hongfei said. “First, we needed to see how the new firearms performed in actual combat after they were equipped by other Nationalist troops. Second, Captain Gao from the adjutant’s office and I only knew that the 2nd Regiment of the brigade that participated in the battle was under the command of Wang Youping, the commander of the 87th Division of the Ninth Army’s forward command. So we found him first and then fought a battle.”

Gao Muyu excitedly remarked from the side, "This battle was absolutely brilliant and incredibly inspiring."

As a member of the adjutant's office, Gao Muyu had little experience of the battlefield. This personal experience of fierce fighting deeply moved him, igniting his fighting spirit and impressing him with Song Hongfei's strategic brilliance and decisive victory on the battlefield.

Zhou Zhenqiang looked at Gao Muyu and said with a half-joking smile, "Why don't you come to our training brigade, Brother Gao?"

Gao Muyu said, "That's great! That's exactly what I wanted!"

"I'd love to be here!" Zhou Zhenqiang laughed again. "However, it's not like being in a high-ranking position in a combat unit. You'll be fighting and bleeding and sacrificing your life."

Gao Muyu said very seriously, "To shed blood for one's country is a worthy cause! I was just wondering how to bring it up, but it's settled then. I'll go back and apply to my superiors for a transfer!"

This startled Zhou Zhenqiang and Song Hongfei, who couldn't help but feel a deep respect for him.

Song Hongfei and Zhou Zhenqiang laid out a battle map and analyzed the current battle situation.

日军第3、第11两个主力师团自从8月下旬登陆以来，在长江南岸淞沪战场的左翼，抢占了正面约30余公里、纵深5-10余公里不等的滩头阵地。

Our army engaged in fierce anti-landing battles with the Japanese army in Yangshupu, Jiangwan, Wusong, Baoshan, Liuxing, Luodian, Liuhe, and other places. Our army used night battles and close combat to wear down the Japanese army. The officers and soldiers were fearless and built an iron wall against the enemy with their flesh and blood.

Although the Japanese army had initially consolidated its forward bases on land, it was clearly impossible for it to launch a large-scale offensive to defeat the National Revolutionary Army, which had an absolute advantage in troop strength, and occupy Shanghai, relying solely on the two army divisions that had already landed and the marines stationed in Shanghai, totaling more than 60,000 men.

The Japanese army discovered that the elite forces of the National Revolutionary Army, the main force of the Central Army, had rushed to the Shanghai battlefield, their morale was high, and they were fighting with extraordinary bravery, making them no easy opponent.

The heavy casualties suffered by the Shanghai Expeditionary Army also greatly surprised the Tokyo Military Headquarters. Both divisions were embroiled in fierce fighting and were exhausted from dealing with the situation. The commander of the Expeditionary Army, Matsui Iwane, repeatedly requested reinforcements, and the Tokyo Military Headquarters realized that a large-scale troop increase was inevitable.

Zhou Zhenqiang said worriedly, "We have received intelligence that the Japanese army will continue to massively reinforce its troops from its homeland and the North China battlefield, consolidate and expand its positions along the Yangtze River, and gather enough forces to launch a full-scale offensive."

Song Hongfei said: "Previously, the Japanese army's strategic focus was on North China, where they concentrated six divisions. They only committed two divisions to the Battle of Shanghai. They clearly underestimated the difficulty of the Battle of Shanghai and did not expect our army to have such a tenacious determination and will."

Zhou Zhenqiang pointed to the defense zone of the 2nd Regiment of the Training Corps on the enemy and friendly situation map: "The enemy facing our army is the 6th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, and the regimental commander is Kuranaga Tatsuji."

This 6th Regiment had already committed numerous crimes in China. In 17, as a major force, it participated in the Jinan Massacre, a shocking massacre of Chinese soldiers, civilians, and diplomatic officials. This was a blood debt it owed to the Chinese people.

At around 3:00 a.m. on August 23, the 6th Regiment forcibly landed near the Zhanghuabang Railway Trench, about 1.5 kilometers south of Wusong Town, repelled a part of the Shanghai Security Corps defending the riverbank, and advanced to the Jungong Road line to cover the follow-up troops of the division.

By the afternoon, the main force of the 3rd Division had landed and gradually expanded its gains to the southwest. It quickly advanced to the line west and south of the Wusong Railway, where it constructed temporary positions and engaged in fierce fighting with the Nationalist army.

The Japanese 3rd Division was a long-established standing division. Reinforced by an independent heavy artillery regiment and a field artillery regiment, the 3rd Division, supported by aircraft carriers and naval guns outside Wusongkou, unleashed exceptionally fierce artillery fire, with shells raining down like rain.

Zhang Wenbai, commander-in-chief of the 9th Army Group, organized the 87th, 36th, and 98th Divisions, the Security Corps, and other units to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army. The two sides engaged in a protracted battle, with corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowing like rivers.

The 2nd Regiment of the Training Corps, attached to the 87th Division under Wang Youping, the forward commander of the 9th Army Group, engaged in battle with the Japanese 6th Regiment. The officers and soldiers of the 2nd Regiment fought bravely and tenaciously, fearless of sacrifice, and advanced wave after wave. Their powerful close-combat firepower made the Japanese offensive extremely difficult. On the first day of the fierce battle, more than 100 members of the 6th Regiment were killed or wounded, while our army also suffered heavy casualties.

Originally, Kuranaga Tatsuji had confidently boasted to the 3rd Division Commander Fujita Susumu that his 6th Regiment would soon capture Zhanghuabang, and then march south along the Wusong Railway, heading straight for Jiangwan Town!

"Yoshi! Kuranaga-kun truly lives up to his reputation as a model soldier of our empire! I await news of your victory, Kuranaga-kun!" Fujita Susumu said approvingly.

Fujita Susumu looked at Kuranaga Tatsuji, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

On that very day, Fujita Susumu received a telegram from the troops stationed in the country. He sighed inwardly and, to avoid affecting Kuranaga Tatsuji's operations, did not tell him the news: "Kuranaga Tatsuji's wife, who suffered from heart disease, passed away several days ago. When the troops stationed in the country learned of the news and went to deal with the situation, the body had already decomposed due to the lack of timely handling. The body has now been cremated and the ashes have been preserved."

Tatsuji Kuranaga led the 6th Regiment with murderous intent towards Zhang Huabang, but unexpectedly crashed into the impenetrable wall of the 2nd Regiment of the Training Corps, and was left with a bloody head wound!

Tatsuji Kuranaga had no choice but to change his battle plan and offensive tactics, combining aerial bombardment with naval gunfire in an attempt to annihilate our army with overwhelming air and sea firepower. All the houses in the Zhanghuabang area were bombed into ruins.

The 2nd Training Regiment adopted flexible defense tactics, expanded its depth of deployment, and widened the gaps in its echelon configuration, effectively countering the Japanese army's powerful heavy artillery firepower and naval and air superiority.

Driven to desperation, the 6th Regiment launched multiple attacks over several days, with aircraft and large-caliber artillery raining down bombs and shells. High-explosive, incendiary, and delayed-action shells rained down like a storm, turning the 2nd Regiment's surface positions upside down, leaving only scorched earth in the distance.

"Wow! A sea of ​​fire, quite a sight! Even the most burrowing Chinese soldiers must have been wiped out by now." Tatsuji Kuranaga nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the distant barrage of artillery fire, then turned to his operations staff officer, Okawa Ishimaru, and said.

But to the Japanese army's surprise and fear, when the bombing ended and they launched their attack, the Chinese troops opposite them suddenly appeared out of nowhere and reappeared on the position. The 6th Regiment's repeated attacks were repelled by fierce automatic fire, leaving behind a field of corpses.

"Baka yarou!" Kuranaga Tatsuji gritted his teeth in hatred, but was helpless.

Faced with our army's tiered and in-depth defense, the Japanese army seemed to have entered a net of heaven and earth, and was defeated every time. They could not cross the Nansitang River defense line of our 2nd Training Regiment and could only retreat to Zhanghuabang Station as a base.

Our army launched several counterattacks, but due to a lack of heavy artillery, it was unable to capture the heavily fortified Zhanghuabang Station and eliminate the landing enemy.

The two sides fought repeatedly and fiercely, occasionally sending out small groups of elite troops to infiltrate and harass the enemy, but neither side could gain the upper hand, and a stalemate eventually formed.