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

After entering the city, the Japanese soldiers ransacked the county town, only to find it was an empty city.

Disappointed, Di Zhouli and his troops, seeing that it was getting dark, decided to stay in the city for the night and continue their northward advance the next day.

Because of the continuous setbacks, Di Zhouli's troops became extremely cautious.

He ordered all the city gates of Chuxian to be closed and set up dense sentry posts on the city walls to closely monitor the area outside the city.

After dinner, Di Zhouli ordered his troops to begin burning the bodies of the fallen Japanese soldiers in an open area within the city.

After all, they still had to continue fighting north, and it was impossible to march with corpses.

Only a few hundred Japanese soldiers' corpses were recovered in relatively good condition. After being covered with gasoline, they burst into flames.

The air was filled with a pungent, acrid smell, which caused many Japanese soldiers to vomit violently.

Meanwhile, Long Fei, with the First Special Operations Division, had already lined up ten 105mm howitzers three or four kilometers north of Chuxian County.

After the Japanese entered Chuxian County, the First Army had already withdrawn to Guancaiwa in accordance with Long Fei's orders.

Long Fei ordered Chen Yiding to lead the First Army to Guancaiwa to join up with the Third and Fourth Armies.

Meanwhile, Long Fei led the 1st Special Operations Division to continue harassing the Japanese 13th Division, luring them to Coffin Hollow at dawn.

Although Long Fei and the First Special Operations Division were several kilometers away from Chuxian County, the towering flames in the city illuminated the night sky with a red glow.

"Commander, are the Japanese burning down the county town?"

Xie Qiang stood beside Long Fei and couldn't help but speculate.

"Forget what those sons of bitches are doing, start shelling in five minutes."

Long Fei put down his binoculars and gave Xie Qiang a stern command.

"Commander, why did we only bring out ten 105mm howitzers this time? Why not deploy all the artillery and use the Katyusha as well?"

"If they all fired at once, they would blow up all the Japanese soldiers in the county town so badly that they wouldn't be able to find their graves."

Long Fei sighed softly and said, "Xie Qiang, how dare you ask such a question? I've already said that my goal is to annihilate the Japanese 13th Division."

"Moreover, I don't want the Dragon Flame Legion to suffer any casualties, so the ideal tactic is to flood them."

"Of course we can bring out all the cannons, but who can guarantee that we can kill all the Japanese soldiers? Who can guarantee that the Japanese soldiers will be so scared that they won't flee back to Nanjing?"

"All I need to do now is beat them so badly that they're left holding their breath and want to take revenge on us."

"Only in this way can we ensure that the Japanese are led by the nose and obediently go to Coffin Hollow for a mass water burial."

Xie Qiang smiled awkwardly and said, "Commander, I understand."

"Good, go prepare to fire."

Five minutes later, the shelling began.

Longfei only arranged ten rounds of shelling for this time, so ten shells were placed next to each howitzer.

One hundred shells were fired into various parts of the city within two minutes.

Immediately, violent explosions resounded throughout the city.

Upon hearing the whistling of the shells, the Japanese soldiers instinctively scattered and took cover.

Those who couldn't dodge in time lay down on the spot, gritted their teeth, and prayed silently not to be hit by the shells.

Even so, these hundred shells still caused considerable damage to the Japanese.

Seven or eight bullets struck the very spot where the Japanese were burning corpses.

Not only did it blast the burning pile of corpses into countless pieces, but it also killed or wounded more than a hundred Japanese soldiers responsible for burning the bodies.

In just two minutes, another four or five hundred Japanese soldiers from the 13th Division were killed or wounded.

Division Commander Di Zhoulibing was so angry that he stomped his feet again.

"Damn it, those despicable Chinese troops! They're shelling at night again! Order the entire army to move north immediately and annihilate this Chinese artillery unit!"

Chief of Staff Ichikawa immediately tried to dissuade him.

"Division Commander, please calm down. It's nighttime now, and we can't move out rashly without knowing the situation. The Chinese army is very cunning; be careful of traps."

According to Yi Zhichuan Yong's words, it was undoubtedly a bucket of cold water poured on the furious Di Zhou Libing.

"Yizhijun, you're right, thank you for reminding me."

After calming down, Di Zhouli was preparing to change his orders and send out several reconnaissance teams to investigate the situation when he suddenly received a report.

"Reporting to the division commander, the sentries on the north city wall have spotted a convoy heading west in the distance."

"Nani, the convoy... headed west..."

Based on the explosive power of the shells, Di Zhouli judged that the cannons that bombarded the county town were only cannons with a caliber of 100 millimeters or more.

These cannons were quite heavy and had to be towed by mules or vehicles.

The discovery of the sentry now confirms his judgment.

"Immediately dispatch a reconnaissance team, equipped with radios, to follow and track this convoy."

After the shelling ended, Long Fei could have stored all the howitzers in the system warehouse before leaving.

However, in order to lure the Japanese, Long Fei instead deployed ten heavy-duty tractors, towing howitzers and turning on their headlights.

They drove off confidently to a point about two kilometers from Chuzhou County, and then headed west.

Furthermore, Long Fei specifically left behind a reconnaissance team to closely observe the actions of the 13th Division.

After driving for more than ten kilometers, Longfei told everyone to stop and rest.

Shortly after, the reconnaissance team sent a message saying that the Japanese soldiers in the county town had sent several of them to follow the convoy in a car.

The Japanese soldiers' actions were exactly what Long Fei wanted. Fearing that the Japanese reconnaissance squad might get lost and fall behind, he deliberately waited for a while before continuing his advance.

As they approached Coffin Hollow, Long Fei left behind a reconnaissance team, tasking them with confirming whether the Japanese reconnaissance squad had followed them all the way to Coffin Hollow.

When Long Fei arrived at Coffin Hollow and joined up with the First Army, he deliberately had everyone light a bonfire to expose himself.

Although the reconnaissance team sent by Di Zhouli was driving a truck, they dared not turn on the headlights for fear of being exposed.

The Japanese reconnaissance squad followed them all the way, eventually ending up at Coffin Hollow.

Upon discovering that Long Fei's convoy had joined up with the troops on this side, the Japanese reconnaissance squad immediately turned on the radio and reported to Di Zhoulibing.

So far, Long Fei's plan to lure the enemy deep into his territory has been half successful. The other half depends on whether Di Zhoulibing will lead the 13th Division here.

After receiving the report from the reconnaissance team, Di Zhoulibing immediately discussed the matter with Chief of Staff Yi Zhichuanyong.

"According to the reconnaissance team's report, we can now confirm that the Chinese artillery unit that launched the shelling against us tonight has withdrawn to Guancaiwa Village, west of Chuxian County."

"Moreover, there are about three or four thousand Chinese troops in this village, and it is not yet one o'clock in the morning."

"My idea is to leave the wounded behind, and the troops should set off immediately to quietly surround Guancaiwa Village. At daybreak, we will launch a surprise attack to catch the Chinese army off guard."

"To annihilate this Chinese army, avenge the fallen Imperial soldiers, and at the same time wash away the shame suffered by our 13th Division these past two days."

After hearing Di Zhouli's battle plan, Yi Zhichuan did not immediately express his opinion, but instead carefully examined the map.