The War of Resistance Against Japan: Special Operations Battalion Traverses Shanghai and Slaughters

That night, the entire Dragon Flame Legion enjoyed a delicious and satisfying meal.

Especially for these newly joined Nationalist soldiers and civilians, they probably hadn't had meat in a long time.

They wolfed down their food until their stomachs were so full they could no longer eat, and then they stopped.

The next morning, Xu Peng rushed over to find Long Fei.

"Commander, the reconnaissance team has reported that the Japanese 13th Division began crossing the river early this morning."

"Okay, I understand. Tell everyone to come over for the meeting as soon as they finish breakfast."

Once everyone had arrived, Long Fei began to announce the orders.

"According to the reconnaissance personnel, the Japanese 13th Division has begun crossing the river. I estimate that the Japanese will arrive in Chuxian County by tomorrow at the latest."

"In order to successfully lure the Japanese soldiers to Coffin Hollow, I decided to launch a series of attacks against them."

"The First Army will set up an ambush position five kilometers south of Chuzhou. When the Japanese 13th Division appears, open fire immediately, but do not linger in the battle. After the fighting, leave."

"The Second Army will immediately rush to Xijian Lake. Wait for my order to blow up the lake dam. I will temporarily transfer the engineer platoon of the 1st Special Operations Division to you, and also give you enough shells to destroy the lake dam."

"Third and Fourth Armies, you shall wait at the high ground of Coffin Hollow. Once the waters of Xijian Lake pour down and trap the Japanese 13th Division, you shall immediately annihilate them."

"The Fifth Army will not participate in the battle this time. You will immediately enter Langya Mountain and find a suitable place for the troops to be stationed."

"The 1st Special Operations Division shall remain in place and be ready to launch an attack at any time."

"The order has been announced. Everyone, get to work immediately."

The troops quickly followed Long Fei's orders and headed to their respective destinations.

Around noon, the various military units called one after another, all reporting that they had arrived at their designated positions.

After dark, the scouts reported that the Japanese 13th Division, after crossing the river, did not continue to advance but instead set up camp on the spot.

Long Fei blinked, and a new idea suddenly popped into his head. He then spoke to Xu Peng, Gao Hong, and the others.

"What do you guys think about a night raid on the 13th Division?"

"Night raid... Commander, how do you plan to launch a night raid?"

After a boring day, Long Fei suddenly suggested fighting the Japanese, which immediately perked everyone up.

"Have the scouts send back the exact coordinates of the 13th Division. We'll set off immediately and bombard them with artillery."

As long as we can fight the Japanese, no one cares how we fight. Since Long Fei said to use cannons, then let's bombard them.

So everyone excitedly got into the trucks and headed towards the north bank of Nanjing.

When they were about five or six kilometers away from the 13th Division's camp, Long Fei told the driver to stop.

Then, all twenty-four Wild Bee self-propelled guns and thirty-two 105mm howitzers were brought out and lined up in a row.

Everyone quickly adjusted their firing parameters according to the coordinates provided by the reconnaissance personnel and waited for Long Fei's order.

Seeing everyone eager and impatient, Long Fei called out.

"Don't rush, everyone. Let's eat something and rest first. We'll fire the cannons after the Japanese soldiers fall asleep, so they won't be able to react so quickly."

They waited until 1 a.m., by which time everyone had already had a good night's sleep.

Long Fei ordered everyone to wake up and then quickly move to their gun positions.

A few minutes later, at Long Fei's command, fifty-six cannons began firing volleys at the Japanese 13th Division.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

Shells, accompanied by a piercing whistle, flew out and landed on the garrison of the Japanese 13th Division.

“Boom boom boom… boom boom boom…”

The Japanese soldiers, fast asleep, never dreamed they would be subjected to such intense artillery fire.

Explosions were happening all over the Japanese camp, with flames shooting everywhere, shrapnel flying, dust obscuring the sun, and smoke filling the air.

At this moment, the Japanese soldiers of the 13th Division were blown to pieces, their flesh and blood flying everywhere, crying out for their parents.

Di Zhoulibing, the commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, had just fallen asleep on his cot when he was startled awake by the deafening sound of exploding artillery shells.

His command post was located inside a sturdy concrete fortification on the shore, so the shelling did not harm him.

Di Zhouli couldn't figure out who would bombard his division in the middle of the night, no matter how hard he tried.

But when he held up his binoculars and looked through the observation port of the fortifications, he saw, by the light of the explosions, that explosions were happening all over the division's camp.

He closed his eyes in pain and pounded on the cement wall.

"Baka! Didn't the Chinese army all flee? How come there are still troops shelling my division?"

"Judging from the explosive power of these shells, it must be equivalent to at least forty or fifty large-caliber artillery pieces. When did the Chinese army's artillery become so powerful?"

Standing beside Di Zhouli, Chief of Staff Yi Zhichuan Yong knew that this was not the time to be angry, much less to investigate the reasons.

He hurriedly reminded him, "Division Commander, the troops are suffering heavy casualties. We must formulate a countermeasure immediately."

The chief of staff's words instantly calmed Di Zhoulibing down.

"Order all tanks and armored vehicles in the division to advance northward and destroy any Chinese artillery positions they find immediately."

"Order all troops to immediately enter the nearest fortifications; those unable to enter the fortifications should immediately leave the camp and retreat to the riverbank."

Long Fei only arranged a dozen or so rounds of artillery fire, because only the initial shelling would be most effective at killing the Japanese.

Once the Japanese soldiers realize what's happening, they will take cover, and the effectiveness of the artillery fire will be greatly reduced.

After the shelling ended, just as Long Fei was about to put the cannon away, Xu Peng ran over and told him...

After the shelling began, the reconnaissance personnel began to withdraw as ordered.

Unexpectedly, they hadn't gone far when they spotted dozens of tanks and armored vehicles from the Japanese 13th Division speeding north.

The scouts warned us to be wary of an attack by the Japanese armored forces.

Upon hearing this, Long Fei couldn't help but burst into laughter.

“Xu Peng, my Deputy Corps Commander Xu, it seems the Japanese are really full of shit. I was just thinking that these dozen or so rounds of shelling weren’t enough, and they actually sent their armored units to their deaths.”

Xu Peng jokingly said, "Commander, since the Japanese are so insistent on committing suicide, let's not be polite to them. Let's use Tiger tanks to wipe out their entire armored force."

Long Fei immediately nodded in agreement: "Yes, if we take out the armored forces of the Japanese 13th Division, we can reduce casualties when the First Army blocks us tomorrow."

Immediately, Long Fei deployed twenty Tiger tanks and arranged for special forces members to board them, preparing for battle.

The distance was only five or six kilometers, but the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles appeared in front of the Tiger tank in just over ten minutes.

The Japanese soldiers had no idea that twenty behemoth tanks were waiting for them to take the bait.

To facilitate the search, the Japanese soldiers turned on the searchlights on their tanks and armored vehicles along the way.

This undoubtedly made them completely exposed in the darkness.