A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

The sun had begun to slowly set in the west, its afterglow like blood.

The gunfire subsided, but the smoke had not yet cleared. Both the Japanese and the Nationalist armies had exhausted their last bit of energy.

Due to heavy casualties, the Japanese army was unable to maintain its position and eventually retreated to the unnamed ditch line, where they dug trenches and fortifications to hold their ground, confronting our army across the forward positions that had been almost completely bombed.

After the great battle, the soldiers of the Training Corps looked at the battlefield where the smoke of battle had not yet dissipated. Although they were exhausted, they were in high spirits and full of confidence after this battle. Their hearts were filled with the heroic ambition that the Japanese army was nothing more than this.

After deploying the defense arrangements and ordering all units to strengthen their vigilance, Song Hongfei, with bloodshot eyes and an exhausted expression, just wanted to sleep for a long time to relax his nerves that had been tense for the past few days.

"Stay vigilant and wake me up immediately if anything happens," he instructed the regimental commander.

As soon as he relaxed, a strong drowsiness quickly overwhelmed him, and he could barely keep his eyelids open. He silently muttered to himself, "War is not only a physical task, but also a mental one..."

Soon, the phone rang. The regimental communications soldier answered it and said, "Is this the 3rd Training Regiment? This is the brigade headquarters. The brigade commander wants to speak with your regimental commander."

The communications soldier turned and shouted, "Regimental Commander, the brigade headquarters says the brigade commander wants to speak with the regimental commander."

Regimental Deputy Liu Zishu took the document: "The regimental commander hasn't slept for several days and has just fallen asleep. I am Regimental Deputy Liu Zishu. Please tell the brigade commander if there is anything urgent that needs to be woken up. May I relay the message?"

The communications soldier at the brigade headquarters relayed the situation to Commander Gui, who nodded and smiled, saying, "Let him get a good night's sleep." He then reached out and took the phone.

When Song Hongfei woke up, it was already dark.

Regimental Deputy Liu Zishu said to him happily, "Regimental Commander, Commander Gui called this afternoon. Since you were asleep, he asked me to pass on two things: First, the Military Commission has issued the reward of 10 yuan for our ambush of Japanese tanks and planes last time."

“Not bad, not bad,” Song Hongfei said in a good mood. “We’ll do it the old way. You and Quartermaster Director Wang will draft an allocation plan for me to sign.”

Liu Tuanfu: "Yes."

The Military Commission had established regulations for rewarding combat achievements. A reward of 500 yuan was given for shooting down an enemy aircraft and 50 yuan for capturing a Japanese soldier. There were also corresponding reward standards for any battle results, such as the capture and destruction of guns, artillery, tanks, cars, and other military equipment.

At that time, the monthly salary of a private in the Training Corps was 10 yuan, and the combat reward from the Military Commission was quite attractive.

Unlike other unit commanders who personally manage and distribute funds, Song Hongfei had established rules beforehand. Rewards were given based on merit, with officers and soldiers treated equally. The regimental commander and quartermaster were responsible for drafting the plans and distributing the funds. Money and accounts were kept separate and mutually supervised. He only needed to approve and sign off on the payments.

His actions won him the support of the troops, especially the soldiers.

Song Hongfei's troops had iron discipline, strictly prohibiting the drawing of salaries without working and the withholding of rations. The reason he dared to do so was that whenever he tested advanced tactics and methods, won in assessments or evaluations, or won a battle, the Military Commission would always give him a generous reward.

Commander Gui was shrewd and adept at understanding the intentions of his superiors. Every time the Ministry of Military Affairs issued a reward to the 3rd Training Regiment, he would transfer it directly to Song Hongfei without touching a single penny.

Song Hongfei himself was well aware that without this money, he would not have been able to make great strides in the training brigade, nor would he have been able to achieve unity of purpose and coordination among the entire regiment!

This money is received openly and honestly, without any guilt on the part of the officers. They don't need to risk anything by exploiting their soldiers, making it a win-win situation in terms of both fame and fortune. As long as they can fight and win battles, the treatment will be good!

This created a positive cycle, with troops training with great enthusiasm, fighting bravely and tenaciously, and everyone striving to be the first to earn merit and receive awards.

This is also the biggest difference between him and other troops. However, other troops really can't do this. First, others don't understand modern military tactics, and second, others don't have his background. He doesn't need to consider wealth, power, status, or position at all. He can focus wholeheartedly on how to build a strong army and win battles without any worries.

Liu Tuanfu continued, "Secondly, the reinforcements have arrived. Commander Gui has decided to supplement our regiment with three companies. I have already reported the casualties. The appointment of the officers to be added to each battalion and company will be issued by the brigade later."

Song Hongfei nodded and asked, "What's the situation with the Japanese army?"

"The Japanese army is constantly stepping up the construction of defensive fortifications, and there is nothing else going on," Liu Tuanfu replied. "Besides, as soon as there is any situation and gunfire starts, you, the regimental commander, are the first to wake up. Your reaction speed is unmatched."

"Is there any food left? I feel hungry after taking a nap."

"Of course," Liu Tuanfu said with a smile, "I've saved it for you. I'll have the kitchen heat it up first."

The Training Corps held the key defensive points of Qujiaqiao and Xujialong by itself. They were in the center of the combined attack of the Japanese 101st and 9th Divisions. Relying on a carefully constructed multi-layered and tiered flexible defense system, they not only did not lose their positions, but also inflicted heavy casualties on the two Japanese divisions.

The battle to break through the Japanese lines turned into a full-blown war of attrition. The attack capabilities of the infantry regiments of the 9th and 101st Divisions were greatly reduced, and they were no longer able to launch continuous attacks. Their morale was also severely damaged, and they had to rest and replenish their troops, digging trenches and engaging in a standoff.

Seeing the battlefield reach a stalemate, Okamura Yasuji flew into a rage at headquarters, but was helpless and could not think of any way to deal with it. The Japanese army's offensive on the south bank of the Wusong River was forced to be delayed again, and he could only hope that the 10th Army on the southern front would capture Songjiang County as soon as possible and launch a pincer attack on the Wusong River from the north and south.

After the 101st Regiment headquarters was destroyed by precise artillery fire, the Japanese officers at the front were constantly on edge and under immense psychological pressure. Using the excuse that their officer uniforms made them easy targets for snipers, the officers unanimously removed their shoulder insignia and white gloves, swapped their riding boots for short boots, and wrapped their sword sheaths with white cloth.

Commander Ito Masayoshi, commander of the 101st Division, felt a pang of sorrow. How could an officer of the Imperial Army be so fearful? What kind of decorum was this? But he could only helplessly acquiesce to the actions of the frontline officers.

In the days that followed, the Japanese troops, unwilling to accept defeat, repeatedly launched small-scale raids on our positions.

The training brigade responded calmly, with each regiment coordinating its positions and launching counter-attacks with small-unit infiltration and harassment.

The forward positions, which had been leveled by artillery fire, became the middle ground between the two sides, and a tug-of-war ensued, with neither side able to gain a foothold.

During the day, the Japanese army used its superior artillery fire to occupy forward positions. At night, our army took advantage of close-quarters combat and repelled the Japanese army.

After several days of this stalemate, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties but were unable to advance an inch, while our army's defense line on the south bank of the Wusong River remained unmoved.

The 101st Regiment, which suffered repeated defeats, developed a fear of battle and extremely low morale after being beaten by the Training Corps. A pessimistic mood spread among them, and the number of personnel who used illness as an excuse to avoid combat surged.

Those wounded soldiers who were evacuated felt a surge of happiness and congratulated each other. They became the envy of everyone because the soldiers had reached a consensus that staying on the front lines would mean facing a death sentence at any time. In an unprecedented incident, a second lieutenant even wounded himself and deserted.

Because the phenomenon of feigning illness was repeatedly prohibited but not stopped, the first thing Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka did after taking office as the commander of the 101st Regiment was to sit in the regimental headquarters and personally check every officer and soldier who asked to be hospitalized in the rear on the grounds of injury or illness.

This incident spread to other units and became a joke: the dignified regimental commander had actually "changed careers" to become a doctor!

Enraged, Matsui Iwane abandoned his original hopes for the 101st Division, which had the worst combat record but the highest casualty ratio against the enemy.

Song Hongfei himself was unaware that he was now quite famous in the Japanese army. The two colonel regimental commanders who died in the Battle of Shanghai were both related to him—Kura Nagai, the commander of the 6th Regiment of the 3rd Division, and Kano Haruo, the commander of the 101st Regiment of the 101st Division. The Shanghai Expeditionary Army and the General Staff Headquarters had already assigned people to study his command characteristics and tactics.

The phone rang at the 3rd Regiment headquarters; it was Commander Gui Shuaizhen calling.

Commander Gui told Song Hongfei: "We just received a report from the Third War Zone. According to intelligence, the commander of the Japanese 101st Regiment, Kano Haruo, was killed by concentrated artillery fire in the battle two days ago. The artillery fire you organized two days ago destroyed a regimental command post and killed a colonel, the regimental commander!"

Commander Gui was overjoyed. Since the start of the Battle of Shanghai, the only victory for the National Revolutionary Army in killing two Japanese officers of the rank of colonel had been achieved by the Training Corps. He couldn't help but feel a little proud.

Oh? Song Hongfei was a little surprised.

When he was commanding operations, he didn't have any particular impression of the 101st Regiment Commander, Haruo Kano. Now, in his spare time, he vaguely remembered that Haruo Kano had died in the Battle of Unzaohama in October. History has changed?

"The butterfly effect—many things have quietly changed under the circumstances..." Song Hongfei couldn't help but feel his thoughts racing. "However, a regimental commander has little impact on the situation in the Battle of Shanghai. Even a small victory cannot change the overall situation."

Gui Shuaizhen added, "The Japanese forces in Hangzhou Bay are advancing towards Songjiang, Qingpu, and Jiashan. They have already broken through the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway line and begun crossing the Huangpu River. Our defense line east of Jiaxing is essentially leaky in all directions, making it impossible to establish a tight, deep defensive line."

At this moment, Song Hongfei could see from the window of the bunker that the Japanese army had huge floating propaganda balloons over the north bank of the Wusong River, with a large banner attached that read "Millions of Japanese troops land in Hangzhou Bay" in an attempt to demoralize our troops.

Gui Shuaizhen continued, "In terms of diplomacy and strategy, the situation is extremely unfavorable. The attitude of the great powers towards our country is not entirely as we wish. Our army will retreat from the south bank of the Wusong River in its entirety, and our brigade may be tasked with covering the retreat."

Song Hongfei sighed inwardly; what was bound to happen had finally happened.