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

After a full ten minutes, Ichikawa Yo slowly raised his head and reminded him with a hint of worry.

“Commander, I have just examined the map carefully, and I have two questions in my mind.”

Di Zhoulibing had always respected and relied on this chief of staff, so he raised his hand in a gesture of invitation.

"Yizhijun, please speak."

Ichikawa nodded and said bluntly, "My first question is, ever since we were shelled on the north bank of the Yangtze River, we have been attacked one after another and suffered considerable losses."

"But I always felt that the enemy was willing to stop and did not go all out against us."

"The second question is that, according to the intelligence we have received, after the National Government withdrew from Nanjing, it ordered all troops to assemble in various places, but did not order that particular force to intercept us in the area north of Nanjing."

"So where did this force come from, and why are they fighting us here instead of obeying the orders of the Nationalist government?"

"Hiss..."

After hearing this, Di Zhoulibing immediately began to think about it.

The series of blows he had suffered had left him in a state of anger, and anger inevitably lowers one's intelligence.

Now that he had calmed down, and with the chief of staff's reminder, Di Zhoulibing couldn't help but feel doubtful.

After a long while, Di Zhoulibing raised his head and said.

“I admit your suspicions are valid, but we don’t have time to investigate the truth right now.”

"My opinion is that if this Chinese army only has three or four thousand men, then they are definitely no match for our 13th Division."

"I will order the reconnaissance team to double-check. If the situation hasn't changed, the opportunity will be fleeting, and I still want to proceed according to my original plan."

"Most importantly, we have been harassed repeatedly and suffered considerable losses. If we cannot wash away the shame of our 13th Division with a victory, we will be ridiculed by other units forever and will never be able to hold our heads high. Do you want that?"

Although Yoshikawa still had doubts, he understood the principle that opportunity knocks but once.

Especially on the battlefield, even the slightest hesitation could cause you to miss a golden opportunity.

“Alright, Division Commander, I agree with your battle plan, but as you said, the reconnaissance team must double-check.”

"Okay, I'll give the order right away."

After receiving orders from the division commander, the Japanese reconnaissance squad dared not delay.

To make sure they were clear, they cautiously moved closer, trying to get a clearer view.

Half an hour later, the Japanese reconnaissance team confirmed again that Long Fei's side only had three or four thousand troops.

So he confidently reported back to the division commander.

Now Di Zhoulibing truly had no more worries, and Ichikawa Yo also decided to fully support the division commander's decision.

At exactly 2:00 AM, Di Zhouli led the 13th Division out of Chuxian County, and the entire army marched rapidly towards Guancaiwa.

Chuxian County is only about 12 or 13 kilometers away from Guancaiwa.

The Japanese 13th Division arrived safely in just over two hours.

At this moment, all the villagers in Coffin Hollow had already been persuaded to leave by Yan Xijiu's men.

The Third and Fourth Armies assembled on the high ground west of the village. Long Fei ordered them to hide well and not to be exposed under any circumstances.

The Second Army called Long Fei that afternoon, saying that they had already placed more than a hundred shells on the lake embankment south of Xijian Lake, which could be detonated at any time to breach the embankment.

As for the Fifth Army, they haven't received any news since entering Langya Mountain, indicating that they haven't found a suitable place to set up camp yet.

Meanwhile, Long Fei, along with the First Special Operations Division and the First Army, had quietly moved away after the fire died down.

The Japanese reconnaissance squad couldn't see or hear anything in the pitch black.

They were convinced that the Chinese army was already asleep on the spot.

So when they met with the division commander, they reported that the situation had not changed.

Di Zhoulibing checked the time and found it was not yet five in the morning, so he ordered his troops to remain in place.

Only after the sky began to lighten did Di Zhouli order his troops to quickly encircle the Chinese army under the cover of dawn.

The Japanese 13th Division still has more than 10,000 troops, and they are surrounding the small hill where Long Fei and his men were stationed from all directions.

Now, the Japanese are just waiting for Di Zhou to give the order before launching their attack.

All of this was clearly seen by Long Fei, who was lurking high above.

"Xu Peng, give the order to the Second Army to detonate."

"Yes..." Xu Peng responded softly and immediately instructed the telegraph operator to send a message.

Upon receiving the order, Zhu Ci, the commander of the Second Army, did not delay at all and immediately ordered the engineering platoon leader to begin detonating the explosives.

Seeing that it was already daylight, Di Zhouli raised his hand, preparing to order the 19th Mountain Artillery Regiment to begin shelling.

The Japanese always used artillery bombardment as a tactic, but today it had a different meaning for Li Bing of Dizhou.

Because his 13th Division was shelled twice during the night, his shelling today can be seen as retaliation using the same methods.

But before Di Zhouli could even shout out, a deafening roar came from afar.

"Rumble..."

"What?! What's going on?"

Di Zhoulibing looked at Yi Zhichuan Yong beside him and asked blankly.

Of course, Ichikawa Yo was also completely baffled; how could he possibly know what had happened?

The loud noise disrupted Di Zhouli's rhythm, causing him to hesitate before issuing further orders to attack.

The southern embankment of Xijian Lake was breached by artillery shells, creating a gap about 20 to 30 meters long and 10 meters deep.

The lake water surged down like a giant dragon, roaring and crashing down, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.

Within minutes, the floodwaters reached a point not far from the Japanese 13th Division.

The Japanese soldiers stared at the roaring lake and stood frozen in fear.

Some of the quick-thinking individuals hurriedly ran to higher ground nearby.

But how could they outrun the flow of the lake?

That left the Japanese soldiers only a dozen seconds before the lake water completely submerged the entire 13th Division.

The village was named Coffin Hollow because it is located in a low-lying area surrounded by high hills, resembling a giant coffin.

This giant coffin was now receiving the water flowing out of Xijian Lake, and the entire village was instantly submerged.

The more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers of the 13th Division are now all floating on the surface of this giant coffin.

Soon, those who couldn't swim sank to the bottom and drowned.

Those who weren't very good swimmers were still struggling on the surface, trying to swim towards the areas that weren't submerged.

Some Japanese soldiers who were good swimmers had already swum to higher ground, but since they were surrounded by lake water, they were as if they were trapped on a deserted island.

Di Zhouli and Yi Zhichuan were not particularly good swimmers, but they were lucky enough to grab onto a piece of driftwood and slowly swam to the side. However, they were trapped on a high point that was not submerged.

Meanwhile, the First Army, the Third Army, the Fourth Army, and the First Special Operations Division had slowly surrounded them from the east and west.

Long Fei lit a cigarette and then said loudly and jokingly, "Everyone, don't be shy. Let's have some food today. Except for those two Japanese lieutenant generals and colonels, don't kill them yet. You can kill whichever ones you want."

After saying that, Long Fei picked up an MP40 submachine gun and opened fire on the water and the Japanese soldiers who had climbed to higher ground.

A dozen or twenty Japanese soldiers were shot dead by Long Fei, and their blood immediately stained the water around them red.

Since the corps commander was so ruthless, everyone else was not to be outdone, and they all raised their guns and started firing at the Japanese soldiers.

Within minutes, very few Japanese soldiers remained on the water; the vast majority were shot and sank to the bottom.

The Japanese soldiers who climbed to higher ground became easy targets, being shot down one by one, with nowhere to hide.