Chapter 170: Kunshan 1

October 27, 1937, afternoon at the Luodian Town front line 259 Brigade Headquarters. The sharp whine of shells tearing through the air grew louder, finally turning into a deafening roar; The Good Earth shuddered violently, the roof tiles of the headquarters fell down like sifted chaff, dust billowed. In a corner, a hand‑cranked radio emitted a faint ticking, intertwining with the explosions outside into a chaotic, oppressive death symphony.

The 259 Brigade Headquarters was set up in the only relatively intact brick house on the edge of Luodian Town, but the winding cracks in the walls foretold that it would not hold much longer. Brigade Commander Li Nian'an stood before a battle map that covered the entire table; the map showed the area around Luodian Town densely marked with red and blue pencils, arrows and circles layered upon each other. The soot stains on his face had not yet been wiped away, and a hole had been torn in the shoulder of his woolen officer's coat by shrapnel that had arrived at an unknown time, exposing the gray‑white cotton padding inside, yet he seemed unaware.

"Brigade Commander!" Chief of Staff Wang Weilin burst in as if he had slammed the door open, his body covered in dust, the makeshift bandage on his left arm still seeping blood, his complexion pale from blood loss and fatigue. "We just received a report from the First Battalion observation post: the Japanese 3rd Division's 9th Regiment, at least two battalions strong, under Tank cover, has broken through the left flank of the 36th Division's 108th Brigade line and is rapidly flanking us along Zhangjiabang! The 36th Division there… is collapsing badly, the gap is widening!"

The air in the headquarters froze instantly. Several operations staff cast sharp glances at Li Nian'an. If the left flank were torn open completely, the 259 Brigade's entire defensive system at Luodian would face the risk of being encircled from behind.

Li Nian'an's gaze was as sharp as an eagle; the red‑blue pencil in his hand flicked swiftly across the map, finally landing heavily on the spot marked "Liu Family Estate." That was a small village on the left flank of Luodian, slightly elevated and crisscrossed by several abandoned ditches that could serve as natural barriers.

"Order the Third Battalion: immediately abandon the current forward positions, maneuver 250 meters to the left flank, and seize Liu Family Estate and its surrounding high ground within half an hour!" His voice was hoarse from days of command, yet carried an unquestionable steadiness. "Tell them to hold that spot at all costs! Without my order, even if they fight to the last man, they must not retreat a single step!"

"Yes!" a messenger answered, hunched and sprinted out of the headquarters.

Li Nian'an's gaze shifted again to the area on the map marked as the lost positions of the 36th Division. "Notify the brigade's Artillery Company to cease extending fire on the Japanese front, concentrate all firepower to cover the 36th Division's lost positions, especially the east bank of Zhangjiabang! Provide artillery coverage for ten minutes to disrupt the Japanese follow‑up units' assembly and advance, buying the Third Battalion time to fortify!" He paused, then added, "Tell the Artillery Company Commander that ammunition need not be conserved; after this wave we have means to resupply!"

"Understood!" another messenger took the order and left.

The order was concise and clear, the response swift and decisive. The staff's taut nerves relaxed slightly; they had long witnessed the Brigade Commander's improvisational decisiveness in countless bloody battles.

But at that moment, the radio operator wearing headphones jerked his head up, holding a freshly translated Document sheet, his voice trembling faintly, "Brigade Commander! Battle Zone urgent telegram! Top Secret!"

Li Nian'an furrowed his brows, took the thin sheet. The Document's content was extremely brief, only one line of text:

"Immediately withdraw from the Luodian battle, the entire brigade to advance toward Kunshan. No errors, no leaks. This order, Li Yuxuan."

"Retreat?!" Guard Battalion Commander Wang Tieniu, standing beside Li Nian'an, could not help shouting, the burly man's face full of bewilderment and anger, "Brigade Commander! We just repelled two battalion‑scale attacks by those little devils, the brothers' morale is high! Now a retreat? What about the sacrifices we just made? Are we just surrendering Luodian's gate like that?!"

The headquarters fell silent again, everyone's eyes fixed on Li Nian'an, awaiting his decision. The air was thick with a complex scent of gunpowder smoke, sweat and blood‑stained grime.

Li Nian'an did not answer Wang Tieniu immediately, nor did he look at anyone. He slowly walked to the sandbag‑reinforced observation slit, raised his binoculars and looked outward. Through the lenses, smoke swirled inside and outside Luodian Town, distant Japanese flags patched onto broken walls flickered faintly, the staccato fire of machine guns, the crisp crack of the Type‑38 rifle, and the intermittent explosions of grenades rose and fell. Ahead of the positions, the corpses of both sides lay intermingled, some soil soaked with repeatedly congealed fresh blood, turning a chilling dark red. Every inch of this ground was soaked with the 259 Brigade's soldiers' blood.

He lowered the binoculars, turned, his face revealing little expression, only a fleeting flash of rapid struggle and calculation in his eyes. After a long moment, he uttered four words in his hoarse yet steady voice:

"Execute the order."

Half an hour earlier, Jinling Military Commission Operations Hall. A massive Songhu Battle Zone map covered almost the entire wall, its arrows indicating enemy and friendly dispositions clearly showing the Huaxia Army's main force trapped in a narrow strip from Shanghai's urban area to the south bank of the Yangtze River. Li Yuxuan stood before the map, his red‑blue pointer tapping the spot on Hangzhou Bay North Shore marked "Jinshanwei."

The atmosphere in the Operations Hall was heavy; senior staff and secretariat personnel moved briskly, low murmurs and the ticking of the telegraph machine mingling together.

Deputy Director of Military Statistics Dai Li slipped silently to Li Yuxuan's side, whispering, "Director, the last piece of intelligence sent by Sea Snake at great risk has been corroborated by multiple sources. The Japanese are forming the 10th Army, comprising the 6th, 18th, and 114th Divisions as well as the Guoqi Detachment, a massive force; its vanguard will not land on the Jinshanwei line later than November 5."

Li Yuxuan's gaze fixed on Jinshanwei, his pointer tapping lightly at that point, "What is the exact scale of the vessels?"

"Based on current intel, the Japanese have mobilized over thirty vessels of various types, including the Izumo, with strong escort and fire‑support power. This operation is led by the Japanese navy and is extremely covert," Dai Li's voice dropped even lower, almost a whisper, "Our line was sent immediately after confirmation, then we lost contact, I'm afraid…"

Li Yuxuan was silent for a moment, his pointer slowly moving from Jinshanwei upward, sweeping over Songjiang, Qingpu, and finally stopping at the Kunshan‑Suzhou‑Jiaxing line. This line was the lifeline of the Songhu army's westward retreat of hundreds of thousands.

"Jinshanwei… a fine example of striking the empty while avoiding the solid," Li Yuxuan's voice was austere. "If the Japanese land ten thousand fresh troops here successfully, they could push north straight into Songjiang and Qingpu, severing our Shanghai‑Hangzhou Railway and roads. A westward thrust could threaten the Wu Fu Line, Xicheng Line defensive works. Then the retreat route for our 700,000 soldiers on the Songhu battlefield would be completely cut off; the consequences… unimaginable."

"That's why the Director urgently ordered the Academy's department…"

"It's not just his 259 Brigade," Li Yuxuan interjected, drawing several circles on the map. "The First Army's main forces, the Fifth Army's core, and the mobile units of the Eighteenth Army must all be urgently redeployed to the Kunshan‑Qingpu‑Songjiang line to build a blocking defense line, buying time for the main forces' westward retreat. But Li Nian'an's 259 Brigade is the most forward‑positioned; having just endured the bloody battle at Luodian, it is weary yet still sharp, its mobility relatively strongest, and must seize the transport hub of Kunshan first to hold the line!"

He turned to Dai Li, his gaze sharp: "Yu Nong, in the coming days intelligence work is of utmost priority! The Japanese landing's exact time, precise location, unit designations, advance direction—no clue can be missed! We must race against time, race against the Japanese plot!"

Dai Li bowed slightly, his expression solemn: "Understood, I've mobilized every channel available. It's just… the Academy's nephew is fighting hard at Luodian; suddenly ordering him to abandon the blood‑soaked defensive position, given his temperament, I fear…"

Li Yuxuan's gaze returned to the massive map, looking at the area soon to be engulfed by even greater flames, and he softly uttered four words, carrying an unquestionable resolve and a barely perceptible weight:

"Consider the overall situation."