Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

Chen Zijun's reply in plain text was like a resounding slap across the face of the entire Far East.

"Keep firing! Leave no one alive!"

These eight words are more lethal than any artillery shell.

……

The International Settlement.

British Consulate General

Baldun was clutching two telegrams in his hand.

One of them was a surrender telegram from Yamaguchi Tamon.

One of them was the last line of Chen Zijun's telegram, those eight cold, hard words.

His hands were shaking.

It's not because I'm afraid.

It's because of anger.

Or rather, it was a kind of hysteria stemming from the disregard for the British Empire's self-esteem.

"That barbaric warlord!" Bardon slammed the telegram on the table. "He's insane! International law clearly states that a ceasefire must be implemented after the white flag is raised! He's challenging the bottom line of the entire civilized world!"

The American consul next to him, Cunningham, silently smoked his cigar without saying a word.

This wasn't the first time Chen Zijun had done this; he'd seen it far too many times.

Every time, everyone thought Chen Zijun had gone mad.

Every time, it was the group of people who thought he was crazy who ended up kneeling down.

"Mr. Barton," Cunningham said slowly, exhaling a puff of smoke, "I advise you not to make that call."

"Why?!"

"Because he's not sure he won't accept it."

Baldun did not listen.

He picked up the phone, dialed the Longhua Road Garrison Command, and then transferred the call to the Wusongkou Fortress communication line.

"I demand to speak with General Chen! This is the strongest protest issued by the British Consul General on behalf of the seven nations! If he does not immediately cease fire, he will face comprehensive international sanctions and diplomatic isolation!"

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Then a cold voice came through.

"Mr. Baldon, the commander asked me to pass on a message to you."

"What are you saying?!"

He said, "This is China's territorial waters."

"He sets the rules."

"Also, he told you to stop fighting. He's busy sinking warships and doesn't have time to listen to nonsense."

Click.

The call was disconnected.

Bardon's hand holding the microphone froze in mid-air, his face turning pale and then flushed.

Cunningham sighed softly beside him.

"I told you so."

……

Wusongkou Fortress.

Underground command post.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Zijun didn't even glance at the communications soldier.

He walked back to the front of the sand table.

He pointed with his finger at the few moving markers on the sea surface.

"Uncle Yang, what's the current status of the Hyuga?"

"Reporting, Commander!" Yang Yanzhao's voice trembled with excitement. "The Hyuga has completely lost power, is listing more than fifteen degrees to starboard, and is slowly sinking! But it hasn't completely sunk yet; the keel is still holding it up!"

"Then let it sink completely."

Chen Zijun's voice was as calm as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

"The second artillery group continues loading. The 300mm guns of the first artillery group also join the salvo."

"Target: Hyuga."

"Keep shooting it until it completely disappears from the sea."

"yes!"

Yang Yanzhao wished he could shout himself hoarse.

Five minutes later.

On the Wusong Port defense positions, the most terrifying salvo of this naval battle rang out.

Four 381mm cannons.

Ten 300mm coastal defense guns.

Fourteen steel cannons simultaneously unleashed the fury of death!

Boom boom boom boom boom!!!

The entire land at Wusongkou was trembling as if in spasms!

Fourteen heavy shells, trailing white contrails, crashed down on the giant ship that was barely clinging to life on the sea like a swarm of angry meteors!

Hyuga.

This 36,000-ton super-dreadnought battleship once symbolized the supreme glory of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Under a barrage of artillery shells.

It completely transformed into a gigantic fireball.

boom!!!

A single 381mm armor-piercing shell pierced directly through the Hyuga's forward main gun turret!

The hundreds of large-caliber shells stored inside the tower were detonated in a chain reaction!

The earth-shattering explosion lifted the entire turret, weighing hundreds of tons, fifty meters into the air, like a giant iron lid being blown off!

Then came the second shot, the third shot, the fourth shot...

Shells rained down on the already battered hull of the Hyuga.

Each hit triggered a new explosion and fire.

The entire warship was burning from bow to stern.

Thick black smoke rose hundreds of meters into the air.

From the distance, it looks like an erupting sea volcano.

Yamaguchi is well-informed.

This was once an arrogant rear admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

It can no longer make any sound.

When the first shell of the second salvo hit the bridge wreckage, he was being carried by two sailors toward a lifeboat.

The blast wave sent all three people flying.

Tamon Yamaguchi's body slammed heavily onto a twisted steel pipe.

He felt a crisp cracking sound come from his spine.

Then, the whole world became quiet.

He lay on the burning deck, eyes open, face up.

The sky above was a hazy gray.

And that Rising Sun Flag, now burned to pieces.

"His Majesty the Emperor..."

His lips moved silently.

"I...have been defeated..."

A 300mm shell pierced the deck less than three meters from him.

The ensuing explosion engulfed everything in the surrounding area in flames.

……

at the same time.

The surrounding sea area.

Three Japanese destroyers, attempting to escape, are desperately fleeing out to sea, trailing thick smoke.

They no longer cared about the troop transport ships.

We'll take whatever ships we can get away with.

But what they didn't know was...

Forty meters directly below them.

Three steel ghosts were silently tracking them.

Inside the command compartment of the U-01 submarine.

Heinrich lowered the periscope.

"The three destroyers are retreating northeast at 16 knots."

His tone was as calm as if he were describing the weather.

"1200 meters away. Perfect firing position."

He turned to look at the communications soldier.

"Any new instructions from headquarters?"

The communications soldier handed over the plaintext telegram he had just received.

Heinrich unfolded the telegram, which contained only four words.

"Not a single one will be spared."

A German-style sneer crept across Heinrich's lips.

"Understood."

He turned to the torpedo tube operator.

"Torpedo tubes No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 are to be loaded with G7 torpedoes."

"Target: Three destroyers."

"volley."

hiss--

Three white contrails shot out from a depth of forty meters underwater, like three deadly silver snakes, silently pouncing on their unsuspecting prey.

The lookout on the destroyer spotted the approaching torpedo's trajectory at the last second.

"Torpedo!!! Torpedo spotted on starboard!!!"

Too late.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three loud explosions occurred almost simultaneously.

The three destroyers were hit precisely by the G7 torpedoes almost simultaneously.

A thousand-ton destroyer is as fragile as a cardboard box in the face of a torpedo explosion.

The ship was blown in half.

Seawater surged in frantically.

In less than two minutes, the three destroyers were reduced to three churning white bubbles and debris floating on the sea.

……

Wusongkou.

9:17 a.m.

The Hyuga's hull finally succumbed to the continuous devastating blows.

Its keel broke completely with a dull metallic snapping sound.

The 36,000-ton steel behemoth, still engulfed in flames and billowing black smoke, slowly and irrevocably sank into the cold waters of the East China Sea.

The ship was completely submerged from bow to stern.

It only took four minutes.

Japan's first overseas fleet.

completely annihilated.

……

The message traveled back faster than a cannonball.

Tokyo.

base camp.

The Imperial Conference Room.

The Japanese Emperor sat on his throne, with an urgent battle report that had just been delivered from the Ministry of the Navy spread out in front of him.

His hands were trembling violently.

The text in the battle report was very short.

But every word is like a knife.

"The flagship of the First Overseas Fleet, the Hyuga, sank... Commander-in-Chief Yamaguchi Tamon was killed in action... The entire air squadron was wiped out... The entire fleet was destroyed... Losses included two battleships, one heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, eleven destroyers, and transport ships..."

With a "snap".

The battle report slipped from the Emperor's trembling hand.

His face was as white as a sheet of paper.

His lips trembled violently twice.

then.

A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth and splattered onto the battle report.

"His Majesty!!!"

The attendants and military officers rushed forward in terror.

The Emperor's body slumped softly onto the throne, his eyes closed, unconscious.

The entire headquarters fell into a deathly silence.

……

at the same time.

Thousands of miles away.

Guangzhou.

After Sun Yat-sen, as the supreme commander of the Guangdong Provincial National Revolutionary Government, went north to organize a coalition government, Chiang Kai-shek, who held military leadership power, saw his political prestige rise step by step.

In the study of his so-called temporary residence as the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

A secret report from Shanghai was handed to Chiang Kai-shek by a pale-faced adjutant.

"Principal... Wusongkou... the Japanese fleet... was completely annihilated..."

Chiang Kai-shek was holding a teacup.

He took the secret report and read the first line.

The teacup slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor with a "crack".

He continued reading.

With each line he read, his face grew paler.

See the last line.

"Chen Zijun refused to surrender and ordered continued firing, sinking the entire First Overseas Fleet of Japan."

Chiang Kai-shek's legs went weak.

He slumped into the chair, leaning back against it, panting heavily.

In his eyes.

It wasn't shocking.

It is fear.

A fear that comes from the depths of one's soul, a fear of an opponent who is many times more powerful than oneself.

"This person..."

Chiang Kai-shek's voice was as dry as sandpaper.

"Just how many more cards does he have up his sleeve...?"

Outside the study, the wind stirred the curtains.

No one could answer his question.