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

East China Sea.

Four o'clock in the morning.

The lights in the operations room of the flagship battleship "Hiei" were stark white.

General Yoshinori Shirakawa sat behind the command post, with a photograph in front of him that had been soaked in seawater and then dried.

The photo is blurry, but the key information is still legible.

In the Shanghai night sky, countless points of light intertwine to form a net. Each point of light is like an exploding anti-aircraft shell. The density of the lights is so high that the entire photograph almost turns into a white sheet.

"What...is this?" Yoshinori Shirakawa's voice was hoarse.

Major General Kinoshita, the chief of staff, leaned over and glanced at it, his expression changing.

"Sir, based on the ballistic trajectory analysis, this is a fragmentation barrage from a large-caliber anti-aircraft gun. The caliber is no less than 75 millimeters. The quantity..."

He swallowed hard.

"At least thirty or more."

There was a three-second silence in the operations room.

"Thirty guns?" Shirakawa Yoshinori jumped to his feet. "When did that warlord surnamed Chen acquire thirty large-caliber anti-aircraft guns?!"

No one answered.

"Where's the First Air Fleet? Where's Ishikawa?"

"Forty-two... all destroyed." Rear Admiral Kinoshita's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth. "Only three managed to escape the combat zone, two of which crashed into the sea. One made an emergency landing and was salvaged by our destroyer. The pilot was dead. The camera was taken from his body."

Yoshinori Shirakawa stared intently at the photograph.

His hands were trembling.

But not because of fear.

It's anger.

"Kinoshita."

"exist."

"Order: After dawn, the fleet will advance at full speed. Destroyer formations will provide forward cover. The first echelon of troop transports will advance directly to the Wusongkou beachhead."

Major General Kinoshita hesitated.

"Sir, the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower far exceeds our expectations. Should we consider...?"

"What are you considering?" Yoshinori Shirakawa grabbed the photograph and tore it to shreds. "Anti-aircraft guns can take out planes, but can they take out my battleships? Can they withstand a salvo from twelve destroyers?"

He walked up to the nautical chart and pressed his finger heavily on the location of Wusongkou.

"The 6th Division's vanguard battalion leads the way. The 11th Division follows. Naval gunfire provides cover. I want to plant the Rising Sun Flag on that beach before dawn!"

"Hi!"

All the officers in the operations room responded in unison, their voices reverberating through the steel plates.

Yoshinori Shirakawa turned around and looked at the dark sea outside the porthole.

The outlines of sixty troop transport ships were faintly visible in the night, like a pack of lurking beasts.

Fifty thousand elite troops.

He didn't believe that any Chinese warlord in the world could stop him.

After all, even though Russia, a powerful land power, had given up Lushun, they only needed to deploy 60,000 First Army soldiers to take it!

……

At the same moment. Wusongkou.

Chen Zijun has moved from Nanjing Road to the core command post of the coastal defense line.

The command post was built in a semi-underground reinforced concrete bunker, buried in the ground on three sides and facing the sea on the front. Through the narrow observation window, one could see a blurry cluster of lights on the distant sea.

That was the Japanese fleet.

Approaching.

Zang Keping stood behind him, holding a list of coastal defense deployments in his hand.

"Young Marshal, all coastal defense positions are ready."

Report.

"Forty-eight reinforced concrete bunkers have been deployed along the three-kilometer defensive line on the Wusongkou tidal flats. Each bunker is equipped with two Maxim heavy machine guns and has a pre-set crossfire coverage area. The bunkers are connected by underground trenches and can support each other."

Chen Zijun nodded.

"What about the artillery?"

"One kilometer behind the mudflats, two artillery battalions have been deployed. There are twenty-four 75mm infantry guns and twelve 105mm howitzers. All of them have pre-set firing data to cover the beach. In addition, there are four 280mm coastal defense cannons, which are aimed at large ships in the open sea."

"Armored brigade?"

"Commander Zang's independent armored brigade has assembled behind Yuepu Town. Thirty Panzer II tanks are fully fueled and loaded with ammunition. They are ready to launch a counterattack at any time."

Chen Zijun walked up to the nautical chart.

He drew an arc on the mudflats at Wusongkou with his finger.

"These three kilometers are their graveyard."

He turned his head and looked at Zang Keping.

"Remember. Let them off the boat. Let them onto the boat. Let them rush to the beach fifty meters away."

"Then?"

"Then dump them all on this mudflat."

Zang Keping grinned.

"clear."

……

breaking Dawn.

5:45.

The eastern horizon was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

At the same time, the first loud explosion occurred on the sea.

boom!!

That was a 127mm naval gun from a Japanese destroyer.

Six destroyers lined up in a horizontal formation and opened fire fiercely on the mudflats at the mouth of the Wusong River. Shells rained down on the beach, kicking up columns of sand.

Naval gun cover.

This is a textbook prelude to a beach landing.

The shelling lasted for a full fifteen minutes.

The Japanese army thought that fifteen minutes of artillery fire was enough, enough to turn the so-called defensive fortifications on the beach into ruins.

They are wrong.

Forty-eight bunkers. Each one has a roof over one meter thick. Reinforced concrete. The steel bars are unfinished artillery steel samples from the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Plant, with strength far exceeding that of ordinary steel bars. The concrete is also made with a special formula, with strength far exceeding that of ordinary concrete.

A 127mm naval gun shell wouldn't even leave a dent.

The moment the shelling stopped, the first batch of landing craft were launched from the troop transport ship.

Large-scale warships. Each one can carry thirty fully armed soldiers.

The first wave consisted of a total of sixty ships.

Eighteen hundred vanguard soldiers from the Sixth Division surged onto the landing craft in unison.

This unit was designated the "Kumamoto Regiment." It was the main attacking force on Hill 203 during the Russo-Japanese War, and was known as the "Steel Army."

Each soldier wore a steel helmet, carried a Type 38 rifle, and had a small Rising Sun flag tied to his back.

There was only one thing in their eyes.

murderous look.

The landing craft's engines were running at full speed. White waves cleaved through the gray sea. Sixty small boats, lined up in a dense horizontal formation, like a swarm of black beetles, rushed toward the mudflats at the mouth of Wusong.

800 meters.

500 meters.

Three hundred meters.

The beach was silent.

One hundred meters.

Still no sound.

The Japanese vanguard battalion commander raised his sword.

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Charge!"

Eighteen hundred soldiers let out frenzied, ferocious howls as they leaped from the bow of the landing craft into waist-deep water, rifles in hand, and charged toward the beach.

Fifty meters.

The water beneath their feet had become shallower. Some people had already stepped onto the sand.

There was still no response from ahead.

When they reached the beach, the Japanese soldiers cheered.

With enduring military fortune, cries of "Long live His Majesty the Emperor!" resounded everywhere.

A pig charging forward, invincible under heaven!

Chen Zijun could even hear the sound of the Japanese soldiers running on the beach fifty meters away, and he couldn't help but laugh.

This is the moment we've been waiting for.

Chen Zijun put down his binoculars inside the bunker.

He said two words to the communications soldier.

"Fire."

The whole world was torn apart in that instant.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!