A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

After several bloody battles, our army drove the Japanese 6th Regiment back to the Zhanghuabang Station and Wharf area, consolidating the Sitang River defense line. However, our army suffered heavy casualties and was no longer able to launch another attack.

The Japanese army believed that under the current circumstances, there was no possibility of victory without a large-scale increase in troop strength, and decided to temporarily halt the offensive.

The main forces of the Japanese 3rd and 11th Divisions, which landed, focused their attacks on Baoshan, Jiading, and Luodian, west of Wusong. The situation on the eastern front at Jiangwan, Yinxing, and Zhanghuabang temporarily stabilized, and the two sides entered a stalemate.

"It's that kind of heavy machine gun again!" 3rd Division Commander Fujita Susumu looked at the battle report submitted by his operations staff, filled with grief and indignation. The death of Kuranaga Tatsuji had deeply affected him.

Fujita Susumu believed that the intelligence department had seriously failed in its duties, and had never obtained any information about this machine gun before the war. They only knew that it was an air-cooled machine gun that could be used for both light and heavy purposes, and they knew nothing about other aspects such as its performance specifications and equipment status!

Based on numerous battlefield observation reports from grassroots units, the Huaxia Army's machine guns were highly mobile, easy to carry, and extremely low-profile, often appearing suddenly in locations the Japanese thought would be free of heavy machine gun fire, making them difficult to defend against.

The Chinese army employed unprecedented tactics, using this heavy machine gun as their core firepower. This machine gun could even accompany their infantry squads and platoons, creating a formidable local fire advantage before rapidly relocating. This rendered the Japanese grenade launchers unable to lock onto or suppress their machine gun positions, resulting in heavy casualties among the infantry units.

Having served in the military for many years, Fujita Susumu's battlefield judgment was far from mediocre. After the battles of Jiangwan and Zhanghuabang, he had keenly noticed that the tactical level of the Chinese army seemed to have suddenly improved by leaps and bounds.

In defense, it is no longer a trench battle where the enemy is held on the front line. The depth of the defensive positions is greatly expanded, and multi-layered forces and firepower are deployed in a tiered manner to kill the enemy.

If the enemy's attack is overwhelming, the front line should be temporarily abandoned, and crossfire should be used in depth to gradually weaken the enemy's offensive power. Artillery and heavy machine gun barrages should be used to cut off the enemy's follow-up echelons, thus preventing the enemy from holding the front line and from making further breakthroughs. Then, the Chinese army can launch a counterattack and regain control of the position.

Their attacks were no longer the Soviet-style wave-like echelon group assaults, but rather a combination of frontal attacks and flanking maneuvers, with assault detachments forming the core of their firepower, using light and heavy machine guns and various automatic weapons to launch multi-pronged attacks.

"This is a flexible defense tactic!" Fujita Susumu concluded after his research.

He was not an ignorant person; he had already seen that this was a defensive tactic that the German army had vigorously researched and developed after World War I, and that the Chinese army had further improved upon it based on its own circumstances.

"A tactic that combines defense with mobile attacks! This can largely compensate for their lack of heavy firepower." Fujita Susumu seemed to understand. He also had to admit that the Chinese army's tactics were quite ingenious and sophisticated.

"The Chinese army has grown and progressed through learning, and such an enemy deserves our respect. In contrast, the Imperial Army seems complacent and unambitious, which must be taken seriously. Complacency and arrogance will come at a price!" Fujita Susumu felt deeply moved.

It wasn't just the new heavy machine guns; the battlefield performance of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, equipped with a large number of semi-automatic rifles, submachine guns, Mauser fire-selective automatic weapons, and other automatic weapons, also left a deep impression on him.

"In close combat, it is the ferocious firepower of these automatic weapons that strikes fear into the hearts of Imperial Army soldiers."

"Those high-and-mighty guys sitting in their offices are so short-sighted and stuck in their ways. Using the Empire's scarcity of resources as an excuse, they stubbornly believe that 'ensuring accurate shooting' is the top priority, and that the high rate of fire of submachine guns is a complete waste of ammunition; single-shot bolt-action rifles are sufficient! Why can't they realize the enormous advantages and significance of advanced automatic weapons?!"

Fujita Susumu let out a silent sigh. He knew that those short-sighted high-ranking guys would never allow the Imperial Army to possess such automatic weapons.

Fujita Susumu keenly observed that not all units of the Chinese army were equipped with this new type of machine gun, as well as a large number of automatic weapons such as semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns; only the most elite units had them.

"Based on the battlefield reports from various units, only the 87th Division, 88th Division, 36th Division, Training Corps, and Tax Police Corps—these are the most elite reorganized divisions equipped with it. It seems that only the 87th Division in Jiangwan and the Training Corps facing Zhang Huabang are implementing flexible defense tactics," Fujita Susumu silently counted.

"Their industrial output and personnel training are insufficient to carry out large-scale equipping? If the entire Chinese army were equipped with this weapon and trained in modern military tactics, our imperial army would face even greater difficulties. The higher-ups need to be vigilant..."

The commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, Matsui Iwane, also received the battle report that the Sixth Regiment Commander, Kuranaga Tatsuji, had been killed in battle, and specifically instructed Fujita Susumu to make proper arrangements for the funeral and compensation of his family.

The thought of Kuranaga Tatsuji's family situation only added to Fujita Susumu's distress, causing him to sigh with melancholy.

The stalemate in the war has left Matsui Iwane feeling that his forces are severely insufficient. He is currently stretched thin everywhere and can only struggle to hold on to the war and consolidate the areas he has captured so as not to lose the land forward bases that he has worked so hard to capture, let alone continue to expand the offensive.

He has proposed to the military that at least three more elite divisions be sent, but due to differing opinions between the "expansion faction" and the "non-expansion faction" in the Army Ministry and the General Staff Headquarters, a decision on whether to send more troops has not yet been made.

The military leadership, aware of the urgency of the situation, did not wait for the controversy at the meeting to be resolved before urgently drawing five reserve infantry battalions from the garrison forces in North China and Taiwan to supplement the Shanghai Expeditionary Army.

"You're a lucky guy, aren't you? You just got back and you wiped out a Japanese battalion and a colonel-level regimental commander!"

"Deputy Commander, please don't tease me. The 87th Division barely counts as one of the Japanese battalions being wiped out, but how dare I claim credit for the 2nd Regiment's annihilation of Kuranaga Tatsuji?"

"Stop being modest! Without your adjustments and deployments based on the experience of the 87th Division's battle at Jiangwan, how could the 2nd Regiment have achieved victory in one battle?"

Song Hongfei and Zhou Zhenqiang were analyzing and discussing the situation in the Battle of Shanghai. Based on the battle information they received from various parties, they believed that the initial siege and the anti-landing operations along the Yangtze River had failed to achieve their expected goals, and the two armies had reached a stalemate on the front line.

Faced with the Japanese army's land, sea and air superiority, our army, despite its fervent patriotism, suffered heavy casualties due to a lack of modern training and heavy equipment, and could not sustain its operations. It could only continuously replenish its ranks with one division after another.

Song Hongfei's expression was solemn as he said, "We are a backward agricultural country, and our long-term poverty and weakness have caused us to pay a heavy price in the face of modern warfare when dealing with a modern industrial country."

"The gap in equipment between the two sides is just too great. The Japanese army can hold off several of our army groups with just two divisions. How can the enemy be so difficult to fight!" Zhou Zhenqiang said with great emotion.

Song Hongfei said, "It has to be admitted that the Japanese military service system is quite complete. There are 17 active main divisions, as well as a reserve system of reserve, backup, first supplementary troops, and second supplementary troops. The domestic garrison troops of the 17 active divisions can form new divisions at any time."

"Their reserve forces have all undergone excellent military training, and their military quality and combat skills are no worse than those of active-duty veterans. They can be put into combat immediately when they are added to the damaged troops, which can ensure that the combat troops have sufficient stable manpower and combat power, and can also make the enemy have the frustrated psychological illusion that 'no matter how hard we fight, we can't kill it'."

Song Hongfei sighed: "The Japanese army's replenishment system is far superior to ours. The recruits we bring in are all new recruits, with little training. Many of them are no different from ordinary civilians, and some don't even know how to shoot! To be honest, I can't bear to send such new recruits to their deaths on the battlefield."

Zhou Zhenqiang nodded and sighed, "Given the state of the nation, every step is difficult. Our training brigade is doing relatively well; the supplementary regiment has received the same modern tactical training as the other three regiments."

"The 2nd Regiment has suffered heavy casualties after several days of fierce fighting and urgently needs reinforcements. Several companies from the brigade's reinforcement regiment should arrive in the next couple of days."

Zhou Zhenqiang pondered for a moment, then looked at Song Hongfei and said, "I think you should understand what Commander Gui means. To speed up training and preparation for war, you are to organize and carry out training for all soldiers in modern warfare tactics and techniques. This way, we can have a continuous supply of combat-ready soldiers and save more lives. This is much more effective than you commanding a regiment on the front line."

Song Hongfei paused for a moment, then nodded: "I understand."

"But watching others fight makes me even more eager to fight myself," Song Hongfei added. "Our 3rd Regiment has never fought in actual combat. We need to go through a tough battle before we can become an invincible and unbreakable force."

Zhou Zhenqiang laughed and said, "What's the rush? You'll have plenty of battles to fight."

The communications staff officer walked in with a telegram: "Deputy Chief of Staff, we just received a telegram from the Army Group Headquarters forwarded by the Military Commission."

"The Military Commission?" Zhou Zhenqiang was a little surprised.

He took the telegram, read it carefully, and then handed it to Song Hongfei, saying, "The high-ranking officials of the Military Commission have a higher perspective and a broader vision; their considerations are far more profound than ours."