Rise From Eight Hundred

The two puzzled leaders in Songjiang Command finally knew the real reason why their artillery losses were minimal.

The air defense battalion directly under the military headquarters and Mo Songzi himself, who accidentally shot down the Japanese observation balloon, were commended.

Mo Songzi was directly promoted to second lieutenant, but there was no platoon-level position suitable for him, so he could only continue to serve as the leader of his machine gun squad.

The 643rd Regiment of Dongcheng District performed bravely and tenaciously in this battle. Although it suffered heavy losses due to the continuous deployment of follow-up troops to break through the artillery blockade to support the front line, the determination to fearless death, from the colonel to a private, shocked all the generals and officers of Songjiang Command.

When receiving the battle report that 834 people were killed or missing in the 643rd Regiment just when breaking through the artillery blockade, which was several times more than the front-line officers and soldiers, all the personnel of Songjiang Command in the underground warehouse took off their hats and saluted.

While Tan Tai Ming Yue broadcast the heroic achievements of the 643rd Regiment to the whole city of Songjiang through the radio, he also sent a telegram to the newspaper headquarters overnight about the record of the regiment's battle on the evening of November 7.

All the newspapers and magazines that were looking forward to the diary of the famous war correspondent printed it overnight. On the morning of November 8, the front-page headline of the morning newspapers sold in major cities was called "Advance to the Fire!"

Carrying the safety of the flanks of hundreds of thousands of troops, 30,000 against 100,000, they have been fighting hard for a day and a night. The eyes of the military and civilians across the country are once again focused on this small city in southeastern China.

The 67th Army from the Northeast and the 43rd Army from Sichuan Province have become synonymous with heroes of this period.

However, for their families, it is an extremely painful name.

What they want is not the title of hero, not a reward, but the safe return of their husbands and sons.

But obviously, this is destined to be just a good wish.

Everyone knows that Songjiang City will become a sea of ​​blood and corpses.

The Japanese must advance, and the Chinese cannot retreat.

If they retreat, countless families will hang white banners and countless mothers will cry their eyes out.

For the Japanese, the small town of Songjiang, which is stuck on the road to Kunshan, is like a thorn in their throat.

In addition to the 10th Army, the unlucky child that was blocked, the two highest Japanese headquarters in North China and Southeast China all turned their attention here.

Although the Songhu Expeditionary Force Command did not have command authority over the 10th Army, as a theater-level command, it naturally had the right to advise and guide the 10th Army, a front-level unit.

"Gentlemen of the Tenth Army, the plan to encircle and annihilate hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops in the west of Shanghai has been decided. The Chinese army is very likely to flee upon hearing the news. If this continues, the prey that the army is encircling will escape in two days. When will the tenth army arrive? The 200,000 comrades of the Imperial Songhu Expeditionary Force are eagerly waiting!"

The telegram sent by Matsui Iwane, the then commander of the Songhu Expeditionary Force, to the Tenth Army Headquarters overnight was very literary in its wording. There was no mention of Songjiang in the whole text, and there was not even any urging.

However, those who understand understand.

When the Tenth Army Lieutenant General Commander Yanagawa Heisuke saw this telegram, his fair face instantly turned red.

Matsui Iwane was very polite and his words were not fierce, but the arrogance of the elder brother to the younger brother was beyond words. The subtext of the literary telegram was just: two days, give you two more days, otherwise just wait and see.

"Send a telegram to Tani Hisao, Suematsu Shigeharu, and Kunisaki Shige, and ask them to come to the headquarters." Yanagawa Heisuke, who had been silent for a long time with a red face, gave the order.

The staff officers who were familiar with his character were silent, and the lieutenant general of the army, who usually paid great attention to personal etiquette, simply skipped the official titles of several generals and called them by their names this time, which showed how angry he was.

Both sides of the Sino-Japanese war paid great attention to Songjiang, a small town that might determine the outcome of a battle, and the Western world, which was watching the tigers fight from the mountain, also set its sights here.

They might not care too much about the victory or defeat of China, a giant that had already declined extremely, in this Patriotic War, but from their own interests, they did not want the Japanese to win the war so quickly.

The most desirable war situation is that they can fall into a stalemate and form a tug-of-war, so that China can no longer do without the support of the Western world, and is even willing to pay a greater price, just like nearly a hundred years ago, to open various ports to facilitate capital to extract more wealth and minerals from this land.

China's land is too big, and the rich mineral resources contained in it are even comparable to the entire European continent.

As for Japan, as the war progresses, they will need more steel and energy. The American ships full of iron ore have already stopped at all major ports. As long as the Japanese pay, they will go to the main island of Japan.

War is a disaster for the people of the warring countries, but for those capitals, it is a feast that makes them intoxicated.

That night, Liu, the brigade commander of the 322nd Brigade, did not find Tang Dao to invite him to drink the promised wine, but Brigadier General Smallett, the commander of the Allied Forces in the Western Concession of Songhu, found Colonel Xie who was detained in the military camp of the concession.

The two drank wine with two dishes in the tavern next to the military camp.

The wine money was naturally paid by the commander of the Allied Forces, because Xie Jinyuan, who had been promoted to colonel of the army, had no money.

Because of the concession's betrayal, more than 200 elite soldiers who lost all their heavy weapons and only retained their rifles were pinned down by an infantry battalion of the Western army equipped with ten heavy machine guns and machine guns. The entire army could not leave the abandoned military camp. The more than 200 elite soldiers who lost their supplies even had to rely on donations from citizens in the concession for their meals.

The army colonel remembered what Tang Dao had reminded him of, that this might be a long-term phenomenon, and had to sell all the valuable items on the officers in exchange for food. For this reason, even the beloved pocket watch given to him by his wife was sold.

The dignified army colonel now had nothing but a clean military uniform with a few holes and a shiny pistol.

Naturally, he didn't have a good face for the person who invited him to drink, even though this person showed enough gentlemanliness and sincerity in the Battle of Four Lines.

"What advice do you have, Commander? Xie is now a prisoner of your Excellency, so there is no need to be so grand." Xie Jinyuan's face was calm.

"Colonel, it is not my intention to keep you here. The will of the country is not based on our personal will. I hope this will not affect our friendship." The originally arrogant white-haired old man could show such a humble attitude because he admired the commander who had commanded the Battle of Four Lines in front of him.

"Please speak!" Xie Jinyuan's expression did not change.

The old man was a good person, but he represented not himself, but only the Western world, and they were destined not to be friends.

The so-called friendship was only a polite excuse.

"Colonel, what do you think of the Battle of Songjiang?" Smartet was a straightforward person, and he directly stated the purpose of this trip.

In his heart, he hoped that the Chinese in Songjiang could stop the Japanese Tenth Army, but reason told him that this was impossible.

So, he wanted to hear the opinion of this Chinese Army colonel.

"In the Battle of Songjiang, our army will definitely lose!" Xie Jinyuan, his eyes flashed.

"Why does Colonel Xie distrust your country's army so much?" Smartet took a breath.

He didn't expect this Chinese colonel to be so pessimistic.

"General, I haven't finished my words yet." Xie Jinyuan suddenly stood up, put his finger into the wine in the glass, used his hand as a pen, and the table as a cloth to draw a simple map.

He poked his finger hard on the circle representing Songjiang.

"Our Songjiang army is far inferior to the Japanese Tenth Army, so it is bound to fail, but the strategy planned by the Japanese pirates' headquarters for several months has failed because of this defeat. At least two-thirds of our hundreds of thousands of troops in Shanghai West can enter the second line of defense."

"Wrong?" Smartet looked confused.

He understood that Xie Jinyuan meant that Songjiang City could not be defended in the end, but it could stop the Japanese Tenth Army for a long enough time, allowing the hundreds of thousands of troops in Shanghai West to retreat successfully.

By then, even if the Japanese Tenth Army conquered the small city, it would be useless.

This is called tactical failure and strategic victory.

"No reason is needed, because they are Chinese, a group of Chinese who dared to enter that small city after receiving a death order." Xie Jinyuan lowered his eyelids and spoke in a strong voice. "Just like when my troops entered the Sihang Warehouse, if it were not for your country's obstruction, although the Sihang Warehouse would be broken, the Japanese would shed blood here."

The white-haired old man was stunned.

He understood what the Chinese colonel meant. Songjiang City would become the second Sihang Warehouse.

Only this time, there were 30,000 Chinese stationed in the "warehouse".

Chinese who were not afraid of death.

On the wine table in the concession, the Chinese colonel did not drink a drop of wine.

In the air-raid shelter in the eastern part of Songjiang City, there were also two tables of wine, where the major general brigade commander entertained all the lieutenants who rushed into the artillery fire and the front-line battles.

The wine was Songjiang's specialty yellow wine, and the white wine was mainly used as disinfectant alcohol. It was a war reserve material and could not be used. The dishes were white flour buns and a few bowls of meat. It was very simple, but it was enough to fill the stomachs of these officers who had just fought a big battle.

However, there were too few people.

Most of the infantry regiment plus the air defense battalion and artillery battalion support troops, and there were no more than sixteen lieutenants who could come to the celebration banquet of the major general brigade commander.

Among them was a second lieutenant like Mo Songzi who was promoted for merit.

Before the wine was drunk, the general's tears had already dripped into the wine glass.

Tang Dao, who was supposed to be a special guest, was not found, and the stubborn little signalman who asked him was only told that his superior had a new combat mission.

But why was his gun behind his signalman?