A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Despite the occasional shells falling from the Japanese army, Song Hongfei crossed the Nansitang River and risked going to the front line on the right bank to observe the situation of the positions and the enemy.

The Japanese army had occupied Wusong Town the day before. Our army's position at Zhanghuabang, south of Wusong, was only a little over a kilometer away from the Japanese warships on the Huangpu River to the east. The north and east sides were completely exposed to the Japanese army, and we would face direct attacks from various crossfires.

This area is a plain, crisscrossed by rivers and ditches, with loose soil and no natural barriers to rely on. The earthen fortifications of our army's positions were shattered after days of bombing by Japanese aircraft and naval guns, and could no longer effectively resist artillery fire.

After pondering for a long time, Song Hongfei said to Zhou Zhenqiang, "The area between the right bank of the Sitang River and Zhanghuabang Station was originally a large rice paddy, which was inherently undefendable. The positions have been severely damaged by days of bombing by Japanese aircraft and naval artillery. To avoid unnecessary sacrifices, our army will abandon the right bank positions and withdraw to the left bank. We will deploy defenses along the river, relying on the favorable terrain, to lure the enemy into attacking. We will use this flat area on the right bank as our firepower zone."

Looking at Zhanghuabang Station a few hundred meters away, Zhou Zhenqiang nodded with regret and said, "The inability to take Zhanghuabang Station is a constant source of frustration! Without heavy artillery for siege warfare, this is all we can do."

"Hurry up! Make the most of the time! Lay the mines discreetly! Let the Japanese have a good taste of sweet potato breakfast!" Qin Shiquan, the battalion commander of the Second Battalion at the front, crouched down and walked around, instructing his soldiers.

Under the guidance of engineers, the 2nd Training Regiment laid a large number of minefields on the original positions and then quietly retreated to the left bank of the Sitang River, where it adjusted and strengthened its flexible defense deployment.

"The Chinese army is retreating!" The frontline of the Japanese 6th Regiment quickly discovered the movement of the Nationalist army in front of them and immediately reported to the regimental commander, Kuranaga Tatsuji.

After days of fruitless attacks, the war of attrition had become a protracted conflict, much to the chagrin of Tatsuji Kuranaga.

He was considering whether to request the division commander to deploy the Type 94 light tanks of the tank squadron to assist in the attack, but then he thought that the vast rice paddies of Zhanghuabang were muddy and the tanks would probably not be of much use.

Suddenly receiving a report of the Nationalist army's retreat, Tatsuji Kuranaga hurriedly went to the command post outside Zhanghuabang Station and observed through binoculars. After thinking it over, he judged that the Chinese army was going to consolidate its defenses.

"Pursue and pursue! Annihilate the Chinese army!" Cang Yongchen ordered the attack.

The 1st Battalion on the front line leaped out of their positions and charged forward fiercely, intending to take advantage of the situation and pursue the enemy.

The Bofors 75mm mountain artillery battalion of the Training Corps and the regimental infantry guns and mortars were already ready to fire, and a rapid burst of fire followed!

One after another, grenades and mortar shells streaked across the sky, whistling sharply as they struck the Japanese attacking formation with deadly accuracy. The dense explosions kicked up massive plumes of smoke and fire, sending enemy soldiers flying in disarray, their flesh and blood torn apart!

In their panic, the Japanese soldiers jumped into the Nationalist army's positions, looking for cover and shelter from artillery fire, only to find themselves plunging into a minefield!

Landmines are exploding everywhere, and flowers are blooming all over the place!

The Japanese army suffered countless casualties, and cries of agony filled the air!

The officers and soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the Training Corps watched this exciting and spectacular scene from a distance, occasionally using mortar and heavy machine gun fire to drive the panicked Japanese troops into the minefield.

"Happy! So happy!"

"Battalion Commander, we're driving the Japanese devils like they're livestock!" a soldier exclaimed gleefully.

“This is what they call herding sheep into the pen!” said Qin Shiquan, the second battalion commander.

"Hahaha!" The soldiers burst into laughter.

Captain Koizumi, the company commander of the 3rd Company, drew his sword and led his men in an assault when he stepped on a landmine. His legs and lower body were instantly blown off, leaving him covered in blood. The medics rushed to bandage his wounds, but faced with the mangled remains, they were unable to bandage him, and the wounded, unable to move, could not be transported down the mountain.

Captain Koizumi lay there in his pool of blood, howling in agony. His voice seemed to come from hell, utterly miserable and chilling.

The officers and soldiers around them could only stare blankly at the scene before them, their hearts filled with helplessness and powerlessness. What was initially full of sympathy gradually turned into numbness, even though the person about to die was one of their own kind and their superior.

This is war. Life is so fragile, insignificant, and helpless; everyone is the same.

They may have experienced too many similar scenes, and have long been accustomed to death on the battlefield. This is the nightmare of each of them, and who knows when it will be their turn.

Unable to change this cruel reality, they could only silently endure it, feeling as if the giant hand of fate had gripped their throats, unable to break free. They could only harden and numb their hearts, quietly awaiting the judgment of fate.

Koizumi's wails gradually turned into labored gasps, until he breathed his last in a painful struggle nearly an hour later.

This Japanese attack ended in failure.

"Damn it! The cunning Chinese army! Kill the Chinese army's artillery!" Tatsuji Kuranaga roared, his face contorted with rage.

"Hai!" Operations staff officer Ishimaru Okawa immediately went to contact the naval, air, and heavy artillery firepower.

After more than half an hour of relentless bombardment, our minefield and the dike positions on both sides of the Sitang River were blasted into pieces, with huge craters covering the ground.

"Attack! Kill them all!"

The Sixth Regiment launched a fierce attack along the path plowed out by artillery fire in the minefield. Japanese soldiers charged forward with howls and occupied the positions on the right bank of the Sitang River.

During the rainy season, the Sitang River is more than 30 meters wide. The left bank is on higher ground, with a solid embankment made of rammed earth along the higher ground. Between the water surface and the embankment is a muddy beach that is more than ten to several tens of meters wide.

The Japanese troops on the right bank could not observe the situation of our troops behind the dike on the left bank. On the contrary, our troops, taking advantage of the height of the dike on the left bank, had a clear view of the vast plain on the right bank.

After another round of heavy artillery bombardment, the Japanese army released smoke bombs towards our positions on the west bank to cover our crossing and assault.

The 2nd Regiment of the West Bank Training Corps remained silent, not firing a single shot.

The Japanese troops observed from the opposite bank of the river for a while. Seeing that our positions were still not active, they sent out three companies to carefully cross the river in inflatable boats.

The Japanese soldiers looked tense, holding their guns and constantly glancing around. They knew they were likely to become easy targets for the defenders on the other side of the river.

As the kayak slowly approached the shore, the Japanese commander on the east bank had ordered a halt to the shelling, fearing that the shells might accidentally injure his own troops who were crossing the river, and dared not use mountain guns or infantry guns to suppress the defenders on the west bank.

The Japanese soldiers who had crossed the river breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that their risky operation still had a chance of success. However, they were unaware that a tragic end awaited them.

"Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!" A burst of gunfire suddenly rang out!

The previously silent western bank positions unleashed their full firepower, with light and heavy machine guns deployed along the riverbank firing fiercely, countless tongues of fire gushing forth. At the same time, mortars and grenades rained down, forming an impenetrable barrage that exploded within the enemy's dense formation, bombarding the Japanese troops who had not yet been able to deploy.

The sudden barrage caught the enemy off guard. They had thought there was no threat on the west bank and were trying to cross the river and launch a strong attack to break through in one fell swoop, but now they were disoriented and unable to organize an effective counterattack.

The firepower on the west bank became increasingly fierce and precise. Our soldiers were in high spirits, venting their anger and hatred towards the invaders with their weapons. The entire mudflats on the west bank became a death trap for the enemy.

The Japanese troops, caught halfway across the river, had nowhere to advance or retreat, nowhere to escape or hide, and could only be exposed to our army's hail of bullets, becoming live targets, and were riddled with bullets.

Almost all of the Japanese ferries were sunk, and countless bodies were killed or drowned, their blood staining the river red. Some lucky, uninjured soldiers desperately swam to the east bank, hoping to escape their fate. However, faced with the dense barrage of our firepower, only a very few managed to reach the shore.

This battle was a nightmare for the 6th Regiment. Most of the Japanese soldiers who attempted to cross the river and launch a strong attack suffered heavy losses before they could even set foot on the west bank.

Only the first wave of Japanese 2nd Company, under the cover of smoke, successfully landed on the lower left flank, but they became stuck in the knee-deep mud of the riverbed on the west bank, struggling to move forward, each step extremely difficult.

Our troops were well-prepared and ready, awaiting their arrival with concentrated light and heavy firepower.

Heavy machine gun bullets rained down like raindrops, mortar shells whistled down, and hand grenades flew densely through the air, causing explosions that sent sand and dust flying everywhere.

The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties on the barren riverbank, with blood flowing everywhere, staining the mudflats and water surface a scarlet red.

Except for a few Japanese soldiers who desperately swam back to the east bank, the rest were annihilated.

Another group of Japanese soldiers hid behind a row of rocks nearly as tall as a person on the riverbank. This was a blind spot for fire, and the Japanese soldiers on the opposite bank provided cover with light and heavy machine guns. Our soldiers were unable to rush up and engage in close combat, and for the time being, we had no way to deal with them.

Hu Qiru, the commander of the 2nd Training Regiment, personally directed the 82mm mortar company to blockade and cover the area with artillery fire, but the remaining few Japanese soldiers huddled in the rocky hollows and did not show their faces, so they could not be bombed.

"Burn the Japanese devils! Force them out first, then shoot them!" Battalion Commander He Liwei came up with an idea.

He Liwei directed the soldiers to make Molotov cocktails, selecting strong soldiers with good throwing skills to hurl them and grenades behind the reef. The 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion also found a large amount of cotton yarn, soaked it in gasoline, tied it into torches, and threw them behind the reef.

"I'll count to three, then everyone throw it together!"

Some expert grenades pull the pin, wait two seconds before throwing, and let the grenade explode in mid-air, with the flying shrapnel covering almost every angle!

Instantly, flames soared into the sky, and the Japanese soldiers behind the reef were quickly burned and howled in agony. Those who were not burned or blown up jumped out screaming, some of them becoming human torches and trying to escape into the river to extinguish the flames on their bodies, but were then mowed down by our machine guns and wiped out.

The 2nd Training Regiment repelled three Japanese attacks across the river. After several fierce battles, the 1st Battalion of the 6th Regiment of the Japanese Army suffered heavy casualties and basically lost its combat effectiveness.

Our troops' positions on the west bank remain firmly in place.

"The Chinese army's heavy machine guns and automatic rifles are incredibly powerful, appearing and disappearing like ghosts!"

The Japanese soldiers of the Sixth Regiment spread a message with lingering fear, and a sense of dread and apprehension permeated the ranks of the soldiers.

"Baka! How can you boost the morale of others and diminish our own!" Regimental Commander Cang Yongchen was furious and ordered that such remarks be stopped immediately, with severe punishment for those who disobeyed!

The repeated failures of the attacks made Tatsuji Kuranaga impatient. He was determined to increase the attacking force and strengthen the fire support to capture the defensive positions on the west bank in one fell swoop.

Driven by the spirit of Bushido, Tatsumi Kuranaga personally led the charge, going to the front lines to give orders.

He donned a steel helmet, brandished a sword, and roared wildly while urging his soldiers to attack, displaying the ferocity of a hand-to-hand combat leader. His adjutants, unable to stop him, had no choice but to follow him into the charge.

After Tatsuji Kuranaga jumped around for a while, a well-hidden heavy machine gun on the west bank of the Nationalist army had already set its sights on the old Japanese soldier. The machine gunner was not going to let such a good opportunity pass by, and the sights were firmly locked onto him.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!" The Type 24 heavy machine gun spat out angry flames!

Tatsuji Kuranaga was accurately hit in the heart by a heavy machine gun bullet. He was hit by several bullets and before he could even scream, he was thrown backward by the powerful impact. Several large bloody holes were shot into his chest and back, and he died on the spot.

The Japanese army's attack was quickly reversed like a receding tide.

This just proves the old Chinese saying: "Those who do many evil deeds will surely perish! What goes around comes around!"

The Japanese 6th Regiment, which had committed numerous crimes in China in its early years, received its just punishment! Its regimental commander, Tatsuji Kuranaga, also became the first high-ranking Japanese commander to be killed by our army during the War of Resistance!

Tatsuji Kuranaga was posthumously promoted to Major General and awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, Third Class.

Upon learning of Kuranaga Tatsuji's death in battle, the Third Division Commander Fujita Susumu was utterly shocked and dejected for a long time. Kuranaga Tatsuji would never know that his wife had predeceased him.

Fujita Susumu murmured to himself, "Kuranaga-kun, please rest in peace with your wife."