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

Forty li north of Taicang. Outside Liuhe Town.

Chen Zijun sat in the temporary command post, a report on enemy activity that had just come from Mo Lanzhi spread out in front of him. The system panel flashed quietly in his mind.

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[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System - Day 401]

Current fund pool: £2,845,836

(Sulfonamide orders continue to generate an average daily inflow of £100,000)

Real-time deposit rate: +1 pound/second (basic)

Yesterday's expenditure: £654,000 (Wusongkou Fortress infrastructure + heavy artillery procurement)

Deployed assets:

►Wusongkou Yonggu Fortress Complex (4 Class A fortresses + 4 280mm coastal defense guns)

►The 2nd Division of the Wehrmacht (fully equipped with German weapons, has entered the Taicang war zone)

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More than £2.8 million, and still making £100,000 a day.

That's enough. More than enough.

Chen Zijun put down the report and looked at a dark-skinned, burly man standing opposite him.

The man was wearing a brand-new gray German military uniform with leg wraps, and there were calluses on the web of his right hand from carrying goods.

The man behind He Maofeng is the commander of the 1st Regiment of the newly formed 2nd Division of the National Defense Army. His nickname is A Hu.

Three months ago, he was a laborer carrying sacks at the Shiliupu Wharf. On the day Chen Zijun recruited four thousand workers, he was the first to step forward and sign up to join the army.

Now, he is the commander of a regiment.

"Ah Hu," Chen Zijun said, looking at him. "Are you nervous?"

Ah Hu grinned. "Young Marshal, I carried sacks for ten years and got kicked in the ass by foreigners for ten years. Now you've given me over a thousand brothers, each with a German-made gun. Why would I be nervous?"

"Okay." Chen Zijun nodded. "The one coming from the other side is Qi Yingcai's elite reinforced brigade, a little over three thousand men, and they've brought two French tanks. Are you scared?"

"A tank?" Ah Hu scratched his head. "You mean that metal shell?"

"Yes. That metal shell."

"Young Marshal, didn't you give us that German cannon? The one that looks like a door panel. Regiment Commander Zang said that thing can penetrate 40 millimeters of steel plate at 300 meters."

Chen Zijun's lips curled up slightly.

37mm anti-tank gun. Commonly known as a "door knocker".

The FT-17's frontal armor is only 22 millimeters thick.

This isn't war. This is opening a can.

"Go." Chen Zijun leaned back in his chair. "Ah Hu, remember one word."

"What character?"

"ruthless."

At the same time. Fifteen li north of Taicang.

Qi Jun's reinforced brigade commander Qian Baochang sat leisurely in the back of a French-made FT-17 light tank, holding a pot of Longjing tea.

Two rickety metal boxes, moving forward with difficulty, were his trump card.

The secondhand equipment, bought from the French for 60,000 silver dollars, moved like an ox pulling a cart. But on the North Jiangsu Plain, it was sufficient to deal with infantry.

"Hmph." Qian Baochang sipped his tea. "That brat Chen Zijun organized three divisions in three days? Ha, he probably can't even pull the bolt properly."

His staff officer chuckled in agreement. "The brigade commander is right. What kind of battle can those greenhorns from Zhejiang, plus a bunch of dockworkers, fight? Our brigade has been fighting alongside the warlord for three years, a true veteran."

Qian Baochang snorted. "Once we reach Taicang, we'll blow up the highway bridge first, cutting off their supply lines. Then we'll find a town to settle down in, and when the fleet arrives, we'll flank them from both sides—"

He didn't finish speaking.

Because a very clear cannon shot suddenly came from ahead.

It wasn't a rifle. It wasn't a machine gun. It was a sound he'd never heard before—sharp and short, like someone pounding a steel plate with a hammer.

boom!

The turret of the first FT-17 tank was penetrated from the front by a single shell.

A 37mm armor-piercing round penetrated 22mm of frontal armor from 300 meters away, like piercing tofu. The warhead bounced inside the vehicle, instantly detonating the ammunition rack.

boom!

The tank turned into a ball of orange-red fire.

The teapot in Qian Baochang's hand crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

"You hit it?! You hit it?!"

Before he could react, a second cannon shot followed.

The tracks of the second FT-17 were blown off, and the vehicle tilted and plunged into a roadside ditch. The gunner died inside the vehicle, while the driver scrambled out of the lower compartment, his face covered in blood.

Two cannon shots rang out. Two tanks were destroyed.

It took less than ten seconds.

Qian Baochang's face turned pale.

"This...this is impossible! Where did those peasants get an anti-tank gun?!"

He didn't have time to think this through.

Because the sounds that followed were even more terrifying than the cannon fire.

The sound of tearing linen.

Sizzle—Sizzle—Sizzle—

The sound rang out continuously from three directions simultaneously.

MG34 general purpose machine gun. Rate of fire: 900 rounds per minute.

The newly formed 2nd Division has one gun per infantry squad. A regiment has nine guns. Three battalions have twenty-seven guns.

What does it mean to fire 27 MG34s simultaneously?

An average of 405 bullets were poured into the Qi army's charging formation every second.

Qian Baochang's veterans had seen machine guns before. They used outdated Maxim water-cooled heavy machine guns, which fired with a rattling sound like a sewing machine.

But the MG34 is not a sewing machine.

MG34 is a meat grinder.

The first rank of Qi soldiers charging forward didn't even see where the bullets came from before they were swept away by a barrage of bullets reaching chest height.

Those behind saw the person in front fall and instinctively lay down on the ground.

However, the position where they lay prone was exactly within the firing range of the second pre-set line of fire.

Zang Keping's crossfire network was textbook-perfect.

The gunfire lasted for forty minutes.

Forty minutes later, the Qi army's reinforced brigade completely collapsed. The charge turned into a rout, the rout into surrender, and the surrender into kneeling and begging for mercy.

Qian Baochang was pinned to the ground in the mud by a new recruit who had just received his new uniform and hadn't even worn it for three days. His face was covered in dirt.

"Reporting, Commander! The brigade commander has been captured!"

Ah Hu walked over, squatted down, and looked at Qian Baochang, whose face was covered in grime.

"Hey." He chuckled. "Didn't you say we guys can't pull the bolts back properly?"

He patted the MP18 submachine gun in his hand.

"This thing doesn't need to pull the bolt."

Two hours later. Longhua Road Garrison Command.

The battle report was delivered to Chen Zijun's desk.

The newly formed 2nd Division's first battle results: annihilated over 1,700 soldiers of a reinforced Qi army brigade, captured over 900, and destroyed two FT-17 tanks. They also captured over 800 rifles, six Maxim heavy machine guns, and various types of ammunition.

Chen Jiajun's casualties: 11 dead and 43 wounded.

After reading the battle report, Chen Zijun put the paper down.

Eleven to one thousand seven hundred.

This is the power of German weaponry. This is the significance of spending a fortune.

Just as he was about to pick up his pen to sign the commendation order, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Mo Lanzhi pushed open the door and came in, her face solemn.

"Young Marshal."

"What's wrong?"

"A level-three alarm has been issued from the Wusongkou River defense tower."

Her voice was calm, but every word was icy.

"An unidentified ship has been spotted in the thick fog. A Rising Sun Flag is flying from its mast. Based on the ship's outline, it is the light cruiser Tenryu."

Chen Zijun slowly stood up.

He glanced at the calendar on the wall.

Day .

The Japanese have arrived.

"Order the entire Wusongkou Fortress to enter Level 1 combat readiness."

His voice was soft and cold.

"All 280mm guns are loaded with armor-piercing shells."