A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Songhu, controlling the gateway to the Yangtze River estuary, is the economic, industrial, commercial, and foreign exchange center of China, and its strategic position is extremely important.

As the Battle of Shanghai intensified, our army, hampered by inferior equipment and lacking in offensive capabilities, failed to achieve its strategic objectives in the early stages of the siege and anti-landing operations.

Faced with the fierce and bloody resistance of our army, the Japanese landing force, although unable to expand its occupied area, has gradually gained a foothold.

The fierce battle remained deadlocked, with both sides continuously reinforcing their troops on a large scale.

The island nation's top leadership decided to shift the main operational focus from North China to Shanghai. The 9th, 13th, and 101st Divisions were incorporated into the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. The Taiwan garrison officially formed the Shigetō Detachment. Furthermore, puppet troops from the 1st Brigade of the puppet Jing'an Army, as well as puppet troops from Li Chunshan and Yu Zhishan of Manchukuo, were continuously reinforcing Shanghai.

In addition, the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment and several reserve infantry battalions had arrived earlier to replenish the combat losses of the 3rd and 11th Divisions that had landed earlier, enabling these two main divisions, which had fought hard and suffered heavy losses, to continue fighting at full strength.

The Nationalist government of China continued to increase its troop strength on an unprecedented scale. Apart from a portion of the elite troops of the Central Army being deployed to the North China battlefield, almost all of the remaining elite forces were committed to the Battle of Shanghai.

However, due to the huge gap in weaponry and troop quality between the two sides, the stalemate gradually turned against us, and the Japanese army gradually gained the initiative on the battlefield, and the capital Nanjing was also under serious threat.

In an effort to turn the tide of the war, the Nationalist government called for "jointly facing the national crisis and resisting Japanese aggression," determined to unite the entire nation and pool the strength of the people to resolutely fight against the Japanese invasion.

Faced with a formidable enemy, the nation united as never before. For the first time, a China that had been fragmented and disorganized displayed unprecedented national cohesion.

This was completely unimaginable before.

Since modern times, China has experienced a long period of division and warlordism. Not long ago, these various warlord factions were still fighting each other fiercely for territory and interests.

Now, at this critical juncture of national survival, warlords from all sides have set aside past grievances and conflicts. Regardless of their origins or factions, they are united in their hatred of the enemy, deploying their elite forces to face the national crisis together.

The Hunan Army, Guangdong Army, Sichuan Army, Guizhou Army, Guangxi Army, Anhui Army, Henan Army, Fujian Army, Northeast Army, and Northwest Army, all reorganized their elite troops and resolutely marched to the front lines, traveling thousands of miles to aid Shanghai.

The Military Commission also saw a harsh reality: since the start of the Battle of Shanghai, our army had paid an extremely heavy price.

The 87th Division, one of the four reorganized divisions, was arguably the elite unit of the Central Army. Its equipment, training, and combat experience were second to none in the Nationalist Army, making it extremely powerful.

When the 87th Division first entered the battle, it had a full strength of 3 men. However, after more than half a month of bloody fighting, it had been replenished three times, averaging once a week, with each replenishment costing no less than 1500 men. This shows how great the sacrifices of our army were.

The high command of the Military Commission realized that in this contest between an agricultural country and an industrial country, our army was far behind the Japanese army in terms of weaponry, personnel quality, and tactical level, and was unable to cope with modern warfare.

The Battle of Jiangwan is the best example of success and can serve as the best lesson. The Military Commission saw hope that our army could also defeat the Japanese army with superior equipment using advanced, mobile, and flexible tactics!

After much painful reflection, the Military Commission, after careful consideration of the situation, decided that all reinforcements from various regions, whether central or local forces, should first undergo emergency training in Nanjing before being deployed to the Shanghai-Nanjing battlefield.

Many local troops initially dismissed the idea, believing that the Military Commission's move was merely a last-minute scramble for resources. With a major battle imminent, how effective could short-term training be? Providing them with equipment would be far more practical!

It's no wonder they had some complaints. Many troops traveled from their garrison to Shanghai, covering thousands of miles on foot. Getting to Nanjing wasn't even on the way, adding another three or four hundred miles to the round trip.

Moreover, this person has always only valued the elite central army, ignoring and even deliberately suppressing local troops. This double standard has indeed chilled their hearts for a long time.

Song Hongfei, who was in charge of implementing modern tactical training, was also having a major headache over this. The equipment reported by troops from various regions was a mixed bag, with seven or eight different types of rifles alone, and the calibers and bullet types were also a mixed bag. It was simply a hodgepodge of equipment from all over the world!

The core of flexible mobile defense lies in "dispersed troops and concentrated firepower," requiring sufficient firepower. Otherwise, if you open up the front line for a phased defense but your firepower is insufficient to block the enemy's breakthrough, the enemy can easily penetrate your depth. Wouldn't that be like inviting a wolf into the house? That would be playing with fire and getting burned, courting death!

Left with no other choice, Song Hongfei had to revise and adjust his training plan several times, leaving him feeling utterly frustrated.

Song Hongfei knew that the training content could not be too extensive or comprehensive in such a tight timeframe. In response to the drawbacks of the National Revolutionary Army's outdated tactics, he carefully conceived and refined a concise training plan.

The main focus was on how to defend against artillery fire, air defense, and large-scale damage from heavy firepower. The core concept he wanted to instill was the principle of "dispersing troops and concentrating firepower".

Under this core concept, various units will conduct tactical training in defense, offense, and inter-service coordination.

In defense, strengthen the layered deployment in depth to form a multi-layered overall defense system. Deploy shelters and tunnel fortifications on the reverse slope and flanks to both garrison troops for war and launch mobile counterattacks.

During the offensive, the tactical principle of "one point, two sides, three-three system" is followed, combining frontal attacks with flanking maneuvers and encirclement.

The various units that arrived in Nanjing began intensive pre-battle training in turn.

The Army University established a training course for general officers, providing rotational training for officers of deputy brigade commander rank and above from various units; the Central Military Academy was responsible for training officers of regimental rank and below; and the sergeant battalion of the Training Corps was responsible for training all sergeants.

"This is a summary of the experiences gained by the martyrs on the Battle of Shanghai, who paid for it with their blood and lives!"

"In short, the principle of defense is 'dispersed forces, concentrated firepower'! The principle of offense is to 'concentrate superior forces and firepower' on key offensive directions to annihilate the enemy's manpower!"

"At the same time, we must use a 'three-three' combat formation to avoid large-scale casualties from enemy fire!"

Song Hongfei lectured on tactical concepts during the training course.

He lamented that he was in two places at once, as he personally taught and implemented all these educational and training programs. His military concepts and modern advanced tactics were widely promoted in various units of the National Revolutionary Army.

The Central Army was in a better position. Even though they were not equipped with the Type 24 assault rifle and general-purpose machine gun, the tactical and operational training of the Training Corps had been promoted throughout the Central Army before, and the troops had been exposed to some of these training methods to varying degrees, so the implementation was relatively smooth.

However, the local troops were initially somewhat dismissive, after all, they had fought for so many years and managed to win.

For a long time, warlords have been thinking about seizing territory and tax revenue.

Officers at all levels are more concerned with how to line their own pockets: gold, money, houses, cars, and women—the five blessings! What about modern military thought and tactical research? Who has the time or inclination to think about that?

The lower-ranking soldiers, on the other hand, didn't think about any of that. They were just there to get paid and live off the rations. When the guns started, they were expected to be alert and do what everyone else did. If everyone fired, they fired; if everyone charged, they charged; if everyone retreated, they retreated! What was tactics? Never heard of them!

In some places, the way the troops fight is quite comical. Most of the villagers know each other, some are even relatives, and they see each other all the time. When they fight, it's like playing house. They usually fire a few shots and then call it a day. The gunfire lasts for half a day, but there are very few dead or wounded. The intensity of the battlefield is comparable to a village brawl—if you can call this a battlefield.

Before firing, he didn't forget to warn the other side: "Hey you, Liu, you little bastard, you're all set! I'm about to fire, don't let my bullet bite your ass!"

The person on the other end shouted, "Li Laogui, you son of a bitch, you won a lot of money from me a few days ago. Hurry up and finish the game, I'm going to win it back tonight!"

Sometimes, after fighting during the day, the soldiers from both sides would gather together at night to eat hot pot and play mahjong, becoming very close and fraternal.

Senior generals from various regions had all heard of Song Hongfei's name. After all, in the Battle of Xijing last year, the Southeast Army suffered a crushing defeat in the face of Song Hongfei's armored assault, which caused a huge shock among the various warlords.

However, the impression is never as deep when something doesn't happen to you personally.

Song Hongfei quickly made their feelings unforgettable.

Let's see what they're made of!

On the live-fire training ground, a local army regiment was annihilated in a short time by a frontal assault combined with a flanking maneuver by the sergeant battalion of the training corps!

The local troops' commanders were unconvinced. They argued that since the local troops had superior equipment, they would send another regiment. However, two regiments were no match for a single battalion. They couldn't break through on offense or defend, and were ultimately routed.

Song Hongfei's Third Regiment fought against a local division. The soldiers of the Third Regiment's superb tactics, excellent combat skills, and formidable fighting power amazed everyone. They decisively defeated the strongest division selected by the local forces.

"Damn it, you have to admit it!" The local military commander was dumbfounded.

Now everyone was completely convinced.

All parties and factions have come to a consensus: only by training and strengthening the military can we prevent future humiliation and defeat on the battlefield, plunging our troops and nation into an abyss of no return!

Warlord armies are still armies, and armies have a sense of honor.

All units have launched a vigorous training campaign.