Chapter 40 Someone Wants to Witness History

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 Standing on the third floor of the relatively sturdy building that he used as his temporary headquarters, he could already clearly see the extremely conspicuous tall building. Through the telescope, he could even clearly see the moving objects on the roof.

Figures of Chinese soldiers wearing dark blue military uniforms.

"I order everyone not to expose their whereabouts easily.

Each infantry squad moved forward nearly 300 meters and stood by, the heavy machine gun squad looked for bunkers on the spot to build a firepower point, and the infantry artillery squad built a position 100 meters behind our headquarters."

Beicang Mandu, who put down his telescope, gave orders to the signal soldiers around him.

The confidence of the Japanese captain was not based on imagination.

In this battle, Captain Yin Teng of the 3rd Infantry Battalion where he belonged had high hopes and sent him an additional squad with four heavy machine guns and the brigade's exclusive artillery squad.

The firepower of four heavy machine guns is comparable to that of an infantry battalion of the Chinese army, and the two indestructible infantry cannons can ignore the poor Chinese fortifications.

What building can withstand the attack of the Empire's 70 mm caliber direct-fire cannon? After breaking through the Chinese's poor and weak shell, the Chinese who escaped from it could only howl loudly under the fire of heavy machine guns in vain.

Fighting is so simple.

That is, Beicang Mandu, who had just issued the military order, felt very unhappy.

Not because of the Chinese defenders who were already on alert, but because of the Chinese civilians who were only a hundred meters away from him.

"The Japs are coming!" shouted loudly, causing the muscles on the Japanese captain's face to twitch in horizontal stripes.

Although I know that this title has been around for a long time, this is probably the first time that a group of Chinese people have shouted me out like this in front of my face.

If possible, he even had the urge to set up a heavy machine gun and kill all those lowly Chinese civilians.

But the Japanese captain could only endure it.

When it was detected that the main force of the Chinese army was retreating and that the main force of the empire was about to fully enter the Zhabei area of ​​Shanghai, the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, General Matsui Iwane, held a military meeting attended by major-level officers.

The meeting deliberately emphasized that the empire's top priority now is to conquer China. It is not yet capable of a full-scale war with China and at the same time fighting the Western countries. The concessions of the Western countries must not be easily invaded.

He cannot and does not dare to undermine the strategy of the empire's base camp for his own sake.

Therefore, he could only order the entire army to ignore the Chinese civilians who were only a hundred meters away and warned the Chinese defenders with the sound of roaring mountains and tsunami and move forward at full speed.

Since the Chinese like unrealistic fantasies so much, let him, Beicang Mandu, completely shatter this fantasy.

No, not only to destroy them, but also to make them despair, he wanted to shoot those dark blues one by one in the ruins of the building in front of the Chinese people.

He Beicangman wanted to represent the empire and let the weak Chinese understand that all their resistance was in vain and that they did not deserve to own the fertile land.

It can be said that before the sun jumped above the horizon, the Japanese captain who commanded more than 200 elite soldiers was definitely high-spirited.

Even the empire is ready to represent it.

Perhaps not only the Japanese captain as the commander, but also all the Japanese on the left battlefield of Sihang Warehouse thought so before the battle.

As Shuichi Fukuyama, a reporter with the Japanese 36th Infantry Regiment, wrote in his diary of that day:

"Today is October 27, 1937. The morning glow before dawn in Songhu, China is very bright. At that moment, I thought of the seaside in my hometown of Kobe. I heard the neat and powerful steps in my ears. I knew that it was the 3rd Infantry Brigade.

More than 200 imperial officers and soldiers of the 1st Infantry Squadron are about to set off.

The remaining Chinese troops were entrenched in a building and resisted. Together with the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 36th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Division, they would crush the enemy.

And I, along with them, will use my camera and pen to record the moments of the heroic battles of the imperial warriors, watch them capture the last position in Songhu, China, and witness history!"

Shuichi Fukuyama may regret using "witnessing history" as a footnote to his diary.

Because history is like an unruly woman, always surprising or frightening people in the inadvertent plainness of water!

Anyone who has studied history knows this.

...

The Japanese captain, who was so high-spirited that he could represent the Japanese Empire, simply ordered his three full infantry squads to stop hiding their bodies and approach at full speed.

Beicang Mandu, who has rich combat experience, understands that approaching the battlefield is actually safer than far away.

The Chinese's trump card has actually been exposed. They have at least one 20mm machine gun and four mortars. That is their most powerful firepower. There may be some hidden ones, but it is definitely not too much.

That is already the limit of heavy firepower that an ordinary Chinese infantry regiment can possess.

But that cannot be ignored, as evidenced by the fact that the two infantry squadrons on the frontal battlefield quickly withdrew without any resistance.

The penetrating power of the 20mm machine gun is so strong that almost no temporary field fortifications can withstand it. Mortars that can strike vertically are even more painful artillery. In addition to fortifications with roofs made of logs and steel plates, there are also those hidden in trenches.

Maybe he was sent to see Amaterasu by this almost vertically falling cannonball.

However, this weapon also has shortcomings, especially when mounted on the roof of a high building. The range of fire from the machine gun hardly poses much of a threat within 400 meters, unless they dare to mount the gun to the edge of the roof, but then

It would undoubtedly become a target for heavy machine guns and even grenade launchers. He wished that the Chinese would do such a stupid thing.

Mortars also have a shortcoming in range. The closer the range, the safer it is.

Therefore, he took the initiative to move his headquarters forward 150 meters and then entered Beicang Mandu behind an abandoned building. He sent an infantry team to start a tentative attack on Sihang Warehouse.

On the two wings of the 54-man Japanese infantry squad, there were four heavy machine guns and six light machine guns that had already constructed field bunkers. The thing that gave the Japanese the strongest confidence was naturally the big killer---two infantry cannons.

The two infantry cannons have set up field bunkers 700 meters away. As long as the Chinese heavy firepower points dare to be exposed, the two infantry cannons will fire. However, at a straight-line distance of 700 meters, the direct-aiming infantry cannons have absolutely no defense capabilities.

It can make Chinese people despair.

Obviously, Beicang Mandu did not have detailed information about the Sixing Warehouse. In fact, not only did he not have it, but neither did the headquarters of the 3rd Division, which was entering the Zhabei area in full force.

No matter how powerful the Japanese military intelligence system is, it is impossible to record every building in Songhu in detail. Perhaps on the frontal battlefield, Toyoda Hide has noticed the solidity of the building through the bombardment effect of his own infantry artillery, but Beicang Manchu

He was so determined that he had already taken the lead in launching an attack before the communications troops sent by Toyota Show informed him.

As for field radios, the Japanese army was actually a pain in the ass. This precious thing was only assigned to the infantry brigade level.

Naturally, Beicang Mandu, the captain of the squadron, does not have this kind of treatment. If he wants to communicate with his superiors, he has to rely on the two legs of the communication soldier.

To put it bluntly, the Japanese army's equipment was superior. Compared with China, which had just overthrown its feudal rule, and compared with Western countries that had experienced two industrial revolutions, they were just relying on their courage.

The wall on the left wing of the building was carved out by the Chinese defenders with more than a dozen shooting holes scattered up and down. There were also fortifications built with sandbags below the floor. At least a dozen soldiers were hiding in piles of sandbags and logs.

In the fortifications that got up.

When the Japanese infantry squad advanced to more than 200 meters with tactical maneuvers towards the building, light machine guns and rifles began to fire from the firing holes and barricades in the building.

This is a normal phenomenon. As soon as the Chinese defenders' light machine guns started firing, the four Japanese heavy machine guns responsible for covering the flanks and the six light machine guns approaching as close as 300 meters also began to roar to suppress it.

The six grenade groups belonging to the infantry squadron also hid in a temporary bunker more than 300 meters away and worked hard to blast enough grenades toward the roof and the fortifications downstairs.


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