Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Captain Yang quickly introduced to Captain Xie: "This is Li Guotao."

"Hello, Commander!" Li Guotao greeted.

Captain Xie smiled and nodded, saying, "You are Li Guotao. I heard them mention you before."

Captain Yang smiled and said, "This brother Li is incredible! His marksmanship is also excellent."

"Just now he shot and killed quite a few Japanese soldiers one by one."

"We also killed a Japanese officer, who should be the squadron leader."

Hearing this, Captain Xie was even happier and said with a smile: "Great! In this case, Brother Li has made another great contribution this time."

Li Guotao said modestly: "This is what I should do. I really don't dare to take credit for it."

Then Captain Yang told Captain Xie in detail about Li Guotao’s suggestion.

Captain Xie stared at the map, frowned slightly, and said, "I have been thinking about this issue as well. Your analysis makes sense."

"The Japanese have suffered a loss and will surely launch a more fierce attack. Even if it is just for the sake of face, they will take over the Sihang Warehouse as soon as possible."

"So next, we will face greater pressure."

"These suggestions of yours are all very good. I will have them implemented as soon as possible."

"Since Captain Yang has brought you here, you should stay at the regiment headquarters and serve as a staff officer!"

"If you have any questions, you can come to me directly. I happen to be in need of some capable assistants. If you stay with me, I can trust you to handle some things."

Li Guotao quickly said: "Thank you for your cultivation, Captain."

Captain Xie said, "Just as you said just now, organize people immediately and dig some firing holes on the west wall."

"The warehouse has a stockpile of kerosene, tung oil, cotton, cotton yarn and other supplies. You can also use these supplies to make more Molotov cocktails."

"You two will be responsible for this matter. Carry it out as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

Battalion Commander Yang and Li Guotao responded quickly.

Captain Xie stood up and glanced out the window, then said with a worried look on his face, "I have a feeling that the Japanese are about to launch a new round of attacks."

"Go!"

"Yes!"

The two men took the order and left the regiment headquarters.

As previously agreed, Captain Yang immediately began dispatching personnel to drill shooting holes in the west wall.

At the same time, we also organized manpower and used existing materials to make simple Molotov cocktails.

The entire warehouse was plunged into a busy scene, and no one dared to be idle, because everyone knew that they were now completely exposed.

The Japanese have basically occupied the Zhabei area. The Sihang Warehouse is the last position of our army. Next, the Japanese will certainly put all their efforts into attacking the Sihang Warehouse.

So at this moment, everyone must race against time and dare not slack off in the slightest.

……

In a building far away from the Sihang Warehouse, Major Hasegawa was holding a telescope and observing the situation at the Sihang Warehouse.

A Japanese officer nearby reported: "Captain, according to preliminary estimates, the enemy has a considerable number of troops left behind in the Sihang Warehouse."

"A squadron we sent out earlier suffered heavy losses."

"The Sihang Warehouse is a solid building and is located next to the concession, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack."

"And the enemy must have already made preparations, so it will be difficult to capture this warehouse if we attack rashly."

"Bagaya Deer!"

Major Hasegawa was furious and said, "The division commander has issued a strict order that the Zhabei area must be occupied today."

"A small warehouse like Sihang can never become an obstacle to the locust army."

"Their main force has already retreated, and it is unlikely that they will leave too many troops behind, because they are not stupid. If they stay at this time, it will be tantamount to committing suicide."

"Most of Zhabei has now been occupied by the locust army. Under the pressure of the empire, the concession authorities will not let them in. In this way, this enemy army is just an isolated force."

The Japanese officer asked, "Captain, do you mean to storm the Sihang Warehouse?"

Major Hasegawa said seriously: "We must take over the Sihang Warehouse, but what you said makes sense. If we attack by force, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses."

"The Battle of Songhu lasted for so long, and enough Locust Army warriors have died. Now that we are about to win, we naturally cannot sacrifice the lives of more Locust Army warriors in vain."

"Send someone to persuade them to surrender first. They are now at a dead end. Surrender is their only way to survive."

"Even if they don't surrender, it can disrupt their morale."

"Also, order all squadrons to assemble immediately around the Sihang Warehouse and be ready to launch an attack."

“Although the Sihang Warehouse is sturdy, it is almost sealed inside.”

"I observed that if the locust army went around to the southeast of the warehouse and fired special bullets with grenade launchers, they could easily get into the warehouse through the window."

"Under the cover of special bullets, the infantry should be able to successfully capture this warehouse by launching a strong attack."

"Hai!"

The Japanese officer responded quickly and turned to convey the order.

Li Guotao and Lei Xiong were drilling shooting holes on the west wall when they suddenly heard the shouts of the Japanese outside.

Lei Xiong couldn't help but frown and yelled, "What are you damned little devils howling for outside?"

"Captain, come and see!"

Li Guotao quickly ran to a window, where a group of soldiers were already crowded, looking outside.

Li Guotao leaned over to take a look and saw that on the roof of a building to the southeast of the Sihang Warehouse, the Japanese had erected several thin wooden logs, with a Chinese soldier hanging on each of the logs.

The Japanese devils' shouts kept coming from outside.

"Listen, everyone inside. You are now surrounded by the locust army. The locust army has occupied the entire Zhabei area. Your main force has been defeated. It is meaningless to continue to resist."

"Surrendering is your only way out. As long as you are willing to surrender, the Locust Army can guarantee your safety."

"If you refuse to surrender, these are the people who will become your enemies."

"The locust army has surrounded this place and is about to launch an attack. You don't have much time left."

"If you don't surrender, once the locust army breaks into the warehouse, you will all be tortured to death."

Lei Xiong was furious when he saw this scene, and couldn't help but curse: "Fuck your mother, you little devils."

"Aim at the Japs and shoot them."

Before he could finish his words, Li Guotao next to him had already opened fire.

“Snap~!”

A crisp gunshot was heard, and on the roof in the distance, a Japanese soldier who was observing this side was shot in the head and killed on the spot.

After receiving the order from the company commander, the other soldiers also opened fire at the Japanese in the distance.

But the Japanese were not stupid, they were so scared that they all hid in a safe place. The prisoners who were hung on the wood, some of them were still alive, were struggling constantly, screaming in agony, making people dare not look directly at them.

Duanwu also heard the noise, and went to a window and looked outside. He was surprised to find that hanging on one of the wood was the old gourd.

It turned out that at night, Lao Hulu took advantage of the chaos to blend into the refugee group, trying to sneak through and enter the concession.

However, the patrolmen and soldiers in the concession strictly prohibited soldiers from entering the concession. They did not dare to offend the Japanese and give them any excuses.

So Lao Hulu was driven back, but he didn't dare to go back to the warehouse, because in his opinion, going back would be suicide, and staying in the warehouse would definitely be a dead end.

This old hand was ready to find an opportunity to leave the Zhabei area, but he didn't expect that he was caught by the Japanese before he had gone far.

In order to intimidate the defenders of the Sihang Warehouse and trick them into surrendering, the brutal Japanese devils escorted all the recently captured prisoners of war here and hanged them up in front of the defenders.

At this moment, Lao Hulu was seriously injured and knew that he could not survive. He suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of the Sihang Warehouse. He used his last strength and shouted loudly: "Duanwu~! Look after Little Hubei!"

"Live well!"

“Take him home!”

Duanwu was also frightened when he saw this scene, especially when he saw his uncle's miserable condition, he couldn't help but shed tears.

The feeling of watching loved ones die in front of you and being unable to do anything is really too painful.

But at this moment on Duanwu, there is nothing he can do except shed tears silently.

Li Guotao was observing the situation outside all the time. He spotted another Japanese soldier sticking his head out to observe from a distance, and he shot him to hell without mercy.

Li Guotao would not show any mercy to these little devils.

Li Guotao's marksmanship also drew cheers from the soldiers.

However, at this moment, Li Guotao noticed that a group of Japanese soldiers had quietly moved downstairs.

These Japanese devils hid in a relatively safe place and gradually approached.

Li Guotao observed carefully and found that many of the Japanese soldiers were carrying grenade launchers.

There were many Japanese soldiers carrying boxes of ammunition. Li Guotao shot one of them dead with one shot, and while pulling the bolt of his gun, he shouted loudly: "Everyone, pay attention! The Japanese are going to release poison gas."

"Quick, notify everyone and prepare for battle."

Hearing Li Guotao's words, Lei Xiong couldn't help but change his expression and shouted loudly: "Don't just stand there, everyone put on gas masks immediately."

"If you don't have a gas mask, cover your mouth and nose with a wet towel."

“Hurry up~!”

This is not the first time that the Japanese have used poison gas. These veterans are well aware of the power of poison gas.

The entire building suddenly became a mess.

Lei Xiong grabbed the two soldiers and ordered, "Quickly inform the battalion commander and the regiment commander that the Japanese are about to release poison gas."

"Yes!"

Li Guotao hid behind the window, always observing the situation outside. Once he had the chance, he would take decisive action and kill the Japanese outside.

However, there were more and more Japanese soldiers outside, and their grenade throwers were all hiding in the trenches or behind fortifications, never showing their heads.

This left Li Guotao with little chance to attack, as the Japanese were soon ready.

At the officer's command, grenade launchers opened fire one after another.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Guotao killed two more Japanese grenade throwers.

But the poison gas bombs fired from the grenade launcher broke the windows one after another and flew into the building.

Poisonous gas hissed out and began to spread in the building.

Li Guotao quickly put on his gas mask. His gas mask was captured from the Japanese. Battalion Commander Yang had specially given one to him before.

Captain Lei shouted loudly: "Quick, turn on all the exhaust fans."

The poisonous gas gradually spread, but fortunately most of the soldiers were already wearing gas masks.

Even those who didn't have gas masks had already covered their mouths and noses with wet towels.

Although the poison gas is strong, as long as you take proper precautions and hold on for a period of time, you'll be fine.

The Japanese's poison gas bombs were not blown by the wind, so it is estimated that they would not use many.

The building is relatively sealed, but there are exhaust fans on each floor. Now all these exhaust fans have been turned on, doing their best to discharge the poisonous gas out.

As the poison gas spread, clouds of poisonous fog gradually spread around the Sihang Warehouse.

In the concession opposite, people who were originally watching the excitement on the street saw the poisonous fog covering the Sihang Warehouse and were still looking at it curiously.

At this time, someone in the crowd shouted.

"The Japs released poison gas!"

"Run!"

After hearing this, people realized that the smoke was the Japanese's poison gas.

The crowd was immediately in panic and fled in all directions.

Some residents nearby also hid in their homes, closed their doors and windows, and dared not go out.

In a small western-style building, several foreign reporters were taking pictures. After discovering this situation, they became so angry that they started cursing.

"Fuck, these damn Japanese slaves, they actually used poison gas here."

"These damned bastards are becoming more and more brazen, and we must expose their atrocities to the public."

"But that's probably useless. Those damn guys never care about these things."

“Then we must also report truthfully.”

"Now that we have taken the photos, let's hide quickly. Who knows if the damn poison gas will drift over here? I don't want to go to the hospital."

……

Major Hasegawa, who was standing in the distance, observed the situation at the Sihang Warehouse, and said with a sneer on his face: "Since they refuse to surrender, let's destroy them all."

"How is the attack force preparing?"

A Japanese officer replied: "Report to the captain, everyone is in place, and they will launch the attack according to the original plan."

"Yoshi~!"

Major Hasegawa nodded with satisfaction.

At this time, a Japanese officer walked over quickly and said respectfully: "Captain, the commander of the regiment just called and ordered us to take over the Sihang Warehouse as soon as possible and clear out the remaining enemies in the building."

Major Hasegawa said confidently: "You can report to the commander of the regiment. We are about to launch a general attack."

"It's easy to take over this building. There can't be too many enemy troops in the building. We will eliminate them all as quickly as possible."

"Please rest assured, Captain."

"Hai!" (End of chapter)