Chapter 268: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 268 The Returning Souls

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"Amei... don't!" Matsui Iwane saw this scene, and his emotions were completely out of control.

Coincidentally, the Xia Guo fleet had not been completely annihilated by Gu Qingchuan's navy; they finally retreated here and ran into the Shigetō Detachment fighting desperately by the river. The Japanese could only watch helplessly as Xia Guo warships destroyed the Shigetō Detachment's river-crossing boats.

As for Matsui Iwane himself, he watched helplessly from the city wall as the Shigetō Detachment on the opposite bank was trampled; all he could do was keep ordering Gu Qingchuan's navy to hurry over and rescue them.

After venting, Chen Jiliang and An Bang used machine guns and naval guns to destroy the boats the Shigetō Detachment used to cross the river, killing many Japanese soldiers who fell into the water or were on the riverbank.

Afterward, they left as soon as the matter was settled and continued retreating upstream, after all, the Japanese navy would arrive soon.

Half an hour after the Xia Guo ships left, several Japanese destroyers finally appeared where the water met the sky.

The urgent report from the frontline lookout post reached Lv Muzhi's ears: "Japanese naval vessels have appeared on the downstream river surface, about fifteen kilometers away!"

The atmosphere in the command headquarters was off. If that were true, the Shigetō Detachment probably couldn't be completely annihilated. Did they really have to stop here?

The staff officer looked at Lv Muzhi: "Commander Lv, if the Japanese navy closes in for artillery bombardment, the riverbank has no defensible terrain. Should we order Commanders Qiu and Song to take what they have gained and withdraw, alternating to cover the retreat?"

Lv Muzhi pointed toward Jinling City on the opposite bank: "If we retreat now, the blood shed up ahead will have been spilled in vain. Commander Tang and the brothers who died in Jinling cannot rest in peace; they are watching from across the river!"

"Order all of Qiu Qing's forces and Song Xilian's units! Organize assault forces to press forward! Entangle with the remnants of the Shigetō Detachment, let the bayonets taste blood!"

"Let the little Japanese know that my Youth Army is not a force that relies entirely on firepower to win!"

"I want to completely devour the Shigetō Detachment in the shortest time possible, right under the nose of that old Japanese devil Matsui Iwane!"

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"Yes! Entangle them, completely devour them!" Qiu Qingquan replied over the telephone and relayed the order to Song Xilian.

Orders were like mountains; neither man delayed, wishing they could immediately flay and devour the Shigetō Detachment before them.

The Xia Guo army, which had been using its firepower advantage to peel away the enemy layer by layer, suddenly changed formation.

Charging bugles sounded simultaneously on the east and west wings of the riverbank, rising and falling in waves.

"Fix bayonets—!"

"Avenge our comrades and countrymen who died in Jinling—charge!"

The gray-blue and earth-yellow waves no longer kept their distance exchanging fire, but roared at each other and launched a desperate charge.

The officers and men of the Youth Army and the Thirty-Sixth Division were like two red-hot iron tongs, slamming shut and pinching the Shigetō Detachment in the middle, embedding skin into flesh.

This sudden determination for close-quarters combat plunged the remnants of the Shigetō Detachment, already on the verge of collapse, completely into hell.

Xia Guo soldiers, in groups of three or five, rushed into the Japanese formations under covering fire, sweeping at close range with submachine guns, stabbing viciously with bayonets, and hand grenades exploding at extremely close range.

The riverbank was instantly filled with the sounds of bayonets clashing, roars, and the dying screams of the mortally wounded.

The Japanese were completely bewildered by this desperate style of fighting; soldiers often just parried a bayonet when a burst of bullets would come from the flank.

On the city wall of Jinling, Matsui Iwane's heart was bleeding.

In the artillery observation mirror, the riverbank on the opposite bank could no longer distinguish friend from foe; soldiers on both sides were completely locked in a melee.

He had originally requested naval fleet artillery support for the Shigetō Detachment across the river; the order had been issued for less than three minutes before it was urgently canceled.

Both sides had already fallen into close-quarters melee, the battle lines interlaced, making it difficult to distinguish! If naval gunfire coverage were carried out, it would be a method of mutual destruction.

The river surface was blockaded by Lv Muzhi's artillery, and the army could not cross the river in time to provide support.

Looking at this dense artillery fire, Matsui Iwane had reason to believe that if it weren't for Lv Muzhi fearing accidental injury to civilians and foreigners in the city, these shells would probably have struck into Jinling City.

Matsui Iwane could only watch helplessly as the Shigetō Detachment he had sent across the river was devoured bit by bit; this frustration of having firepower with no place to use it almost made him vomit blood.

"Your Excellency Commander, look there..." Prince Asaka-no-miya Yasuhiko's voice sounded beside him.

He pointed to a slightly higher river embankment below the north bank within the artillery observation mirror's field of view.

Matsui Iwane looked intently through the artillery observation mirror and saw a small group of Japanese soldiers gathered there; in the middle was a man in a major general's uniform, exactly Shigenaga Chishu.

Shigenaga Chishu stood blankly in knee-deep river water at this moment, looking at the south bank, looking at the river surface so close yet without a boat to cross, and then looking around at the increasingly close shouts of killing and the gradually thinning guards; his figure in the gunpowder smoke appeared extremely desperate.

Matsui Iwane and Asaka-no-miya Yasuhiko watched like this, as if watching a slow execution.

Above the river embankment, a group of figures wearing gray-blue cotton uniforms appeared!

Dozens of Youth Army soldiers rushed down from the top of the embankment like leopards, firing scorching bullets from their submachine guns and rifles.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—!

The last dozen or so guards surrounding Shigenaga Chishu couldn't even organize a proper resistance before they all toppled into the river water and mud.

Shigenaga Chishu seemed to want to draw his sword; just as his hand touched the hilt, several bullets struck his chest and abdomen simultaneously.

Then he fell backward into the murky river water.

Several Youth Army soldiers quickly rushed down to the riverbank, without concern finishing off the twitching Japanese wounded on the ground, then went straight to Shigenaga Chishu's corpse.

One bent over, grabbed his equipment belt, another lifted his foot; the two worked together and actually dragged this Japanese major general's corpse out of the water, dragging it backward across the muddy riverbank, retreating quickly!

"Baka yarō, they... how dare they!" Matsui Iwane witnessed the whole process and shouted out loud.

"Your Excellency Commander..." Asaka-no-miya Yasuhiko's voice pulled him back to reality and reported another piece of bad news: "On the side of the Sixth Division, Lieutenant General Gu Shoufu's last effective communication was two hours ago; after that, the radio fell completely silent."

"The reconnaissance plane we sent found traces of fierce fighting and a large amount of thick smoke in the designated area, but cannot confirm the specific situation."

Matsui Iwane closed his eyes. The Shigetō Detachment was on the verge of total annihilation, its commanding officer's corpse seized; the Sixth Division had no news, and the situation was ominous.

That night, at the Central China Area Army command headquarters, telegrams were being transmitted silently.

"Comprehensive intelligence from all sides indicates that the Sixth Division was surrounded by the enemy Youth Army, Central Training Corps, Eighty-Seventh Division, and armored units in the Bai Sha Ao area yesterday afternoon; they fought until this morning, when radio contact was completely severed."

"Aviation observation indicates that fighting in that area has basically subsided, and enemy troops are clearing the battlefield. Judgment... the main force of the Sixth Division has suffered an annihilating blow."

"At the same time, the Youth Army has high-profile claimed to have seized the corpse of Division Commander Gu Shoufu, which also seems to prove that the Sixth Division has been annihilated."

"Regarding the Shigetō Detachment, the sound of gunfire and artillery on the north bank completely stopped at dusk today. The navy has driven the enemy away from the riverbank; currently, Lv Muzhi's main forces have already retreated."

Major General Shigenaga Chishu was confirmed killed in action, his remains fallen into enemy hands.

The Chief of Staff finished reading the briefing, stood at attention with hands at his sides.

Asahiko remained silent for a long time, then said: "The remains of Generals Gu Shoufu and Shigenaga Chishu have yet to be found; if they remain in enemy hands for long, the blow to the Imperial Army's reputation and morale will be too great."

Lv Muzhi is not entirely without regard for rules; I suggest exchanging Tang Shengzhi's remains for our two generals' remains."

Matsui Iwane weighed it for a moment, and finally agreed to the proposal.

Late at night, above the Yangtze River.

Moonlight was bleak, the river current sobbed.

From Pukou Wharf and Xiaguan Wharf, an unarmed steamboat each slowly set sail toward the designated spot in the middle of the river.

There were no flags on the boats, no obvious markers.

On the Xia Guo side, a colonel officer led, bringing six soldiers holding guns with muzzles pointed downward. On the Japanese Army side, there was a colonel and several similarly restrained soldiers.

The two boats slowly drew together in the middle of the river; between the soldiers there were no greetings, no exchanged glances, and after confirming identities, they exchanged each other's generals' remains.

Ten minutes later, the river surface returned to calm, as if that silent transaction just now had never happened.

Only the icy river water flowed wordlessly, reflecting the unextinguished war fires on both banks, and countless souls unable to return home.