Chapter 131: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 130 Shizilin

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

On the cruiser Mutsu, Third Division Commander Fujita Susumu received this news and flew into a rage: "Shizilin hasn't been taken yet? Chuan Sha, Baoshan and other places have already successfully landed!"

"Division Commander, there's really no way, the naval guns don't seem to have hit the battery fort directly, that place is really too solid, but the enemy's main force has already fled, the garrison left in Shizilin is only about two hundred men, another charge should be enough to take it."

Fujita Susumu looked at the captain of the Mutsu: "Please have the navy fire another round to help me completely take Shizilin!"

The captain of the Mutsu helplessly curled his lips: "The shell delivery volume of all battleships today is astonishing, now only one Shizilin position on the beachhead hasn't been taken, but Chuan Sha, Baoshan and other places have already been captured by the Locust Army;

I suggest you launch a pincer attack on Shizilin from the road, the navy's naval guns will stop here for now, the enemy is only two hundred men, our naval guns aren't wholesale, firing them won't kill several."

After hearing this, Fujita Susumu was displeased but didn't show it; the navy had indeed fired many shells today, and both sides of the Shizilin position had already been taken. Eliminating the mere two hundred Xia Guo soldiers inside, Fujita Susumu was still very confident.

"Notify the Sixth Regiment, don't land at Shizilin anymore, change to landing at Chuan Sha, strike Shizilin from the flank, and wipe out the Shizilin garrison in one go!"

Taking advantage of the night, Liao Yaoxiang sent out a battalion to search and advance toward the Shizilin position.

And the devils were also landing at Chuan Sha west of Shizilin, deciding to attack Shizilin afterward and completely destroy the Shizilin garrison troops.

On the core position of the Shizilin Battery, the concrete fort had already appeared with many gaps, and the right corner was even blown open with a large breach.

Inside the fort lay many corpses of the garrison, not killed by explosions, but shaken to death by a near miss from a 410 naval gun.

Battalion Commander Yao looked at fewer than two hundred soldiers inside and outside the fort; the soldiers' eyes were also staring at the battalion commander in the night, to be precise, staring at the battalion commander's lips.

How the soldiers hoped the battalion commander would issue a retreat order, but the battalion commander was also waiting for orders from above.

The soldiers didn't receive the battalion commander's retreat order, and the battalion commander didn't receive the regimental commander or division commander's retreat order.

The only order this battalion received was to garrison the Shizilin Battery position.

"What on earth is going on, why hasn't the communications soldier sent out returned!" Battalion Commander Yao sighed bitterly; his subordinates stood or sat, tightly gripping rifles with bayonets fixed.

Looking at these brothers before him, Battalion Commander Yao felt somewhat helpless and felt sorry for his brothers.

"Battalion Commander, rest assured, as long as there is no retreat order, we will defend this Shizilin Battery to the end and never retreat!"

"Right! The battle has come to this point, I haven't thought about getting out alive either; I just want to let the little devils know that our Xia Guo people are not easy to bully!"

"Right! We won't leave; stay here and fight the little devils to the death!"

Battalion Commander Yao saw that under such circumstances, everyone was united as one, with no one deserting in the face of the enemy, and felt very gratified.

"With you brothers fighting the devils together, dying would be worth it!"

But Battalion Commander Yao still gritted his teeth: "No, we must leave some seeds for our troops. This way, those without brothers at home step forward to remove the remaining shore defense cannons, take the shore defense cannons and leave Shizilin. I have one request for you all: protect these cannons while alive, keep them to continue fighting the devils; if dead, destroy the cannons!"

Half a minute after the words fell, not a single person stepped forward.

Battalion Commander Yao clenched his fist, about to personally pick out a few people, when the communications soldier finally returned.

"Battalion Commander... they're here!"

"What's here?" Battalion Commander Yao asked.

"The people coming to cover our retreat are here!" The communications soldier caught his breath and said excitedly.

The soldiers present stood up with a clatter, looking at the messenger with surprise and joy.

At this time, a battalion commander under Liao Yaoxiang walked in and found Battalion Commander Yao: "Battalion Commander Yao, I am the battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Youth First Army, ordered to cover your retreat. The Third War Zone Command has issued a retreat order; you can go to Luodian to reorganize."

Battalion Commander Yao finally received this news and immediately ordered everyone to organize their equipment and withdraw from the position.

"Battalion Commander Yao, what about those four shore defense cannons? Commander Lu and Commander Liao still need to move them to the Yangtze River for use?"

Battalion Commander Yao pointed to the gun position and said: "They are all there."

Several artillerymen went up to dismantle them, and one artilleryman asked: "Why are only two left?"

Battalion Commander Yao pointed to some parts in the corner: "Two have been blown to pieces by the devils; two are still usable."

"Report! The devils are landing at Chuan Sha Kou on the flank; it looks like they want to pincer us from the flank!" A reconnaissance soldier returned to report.

Battalion Commander Yao drew his pistol, about to command the troops to go and block them.

Liao Yaoxiang's battalion commander raised his hand to stop him: "You've worked hard these days; retreat first. The matter of blocking the devils is left to us."

Seeing this, Battalion Commander Yao didn't try to be heroic; he raised his hand and shouted: "Hurry! Move all the shore defense cannons onto the trucks; prepare to retreat!"

At Chuan Sha Kou, an advance battalion of the Sixth Regiment had already successfully landed.

After receiving the order sent by Colonel Kuranaga Naritomo, the regimental commander, from the temporary command post at Chuan Sha Kou, Lieutenant Colonel Yoshizumi Ryosuke, the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion under the Xian Bing 6th Regiment, immediately took action.

He led this full-strength battalion as the vanguard of the Sixth Regiment; the task was to advance eastward at night, clear out and occupy the Shizilin Battery position standing like nails on the beachhead.

"Speed up! The Shizilin garrison, after days of artillery bombardment, must be at the end of their strength; be sure to plant the army flag on the battery ruins before dawn!" Lieutenant Colonel Yoshizumi ordered the several squadron leaders under his command.

In his view, after such heaven-shaking and earth-destroying artillery bombardment by the Imperial Japanese Navy, how many Xia Guo soldiers could survive was a question; plus, this time they were attacking the flank of Shizilin from land, and the difficulty had greatly decreased.

Nearly a thousand soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, in squadron units, quickly passed through the region full of shell craters and scorched earth in combat formation, advancing toward the core position of Shizilin.

Visibility at night was very low; all around was deathly silent, only the sha sha sound of the devil soldiers' leather boots stepping on sand and gravel.

A squad sent out first as the vanguard first crept into the outer fortifications of the Shizilin position.

The squad leader carefully shone a flashlight on the ruined trenches and collapsed cover; inside was empty of people, only corpses and scattered debris.

When more Japanese soldiers entered the Shizilin position, began to relax and search everywhere for the enemy, and tried to establish temporary defenses, the silence was broken by one violent explosion after another.

Boom! Boom!

Before withdrawing, Liao Yaoxiang's troops had laid many booby traps.

Several devils tried to move a damaged heavy machine gun, triggered a booby trap, and instantly the nearby devils were blown to the ground, fresh blood mixed with mud splashing everywhere.

Inside the fort, a curious Japanese sergeant major picked up a document bag placed in the corner and triggered another booby trap; the devils inside the fort were either dead or injured.