Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Chapter 397 The Japanese attacked the Sihang Warehouse!
Konoe Xun said seriously: "Hasegawa-kun, then tell me what your new strategy is!"

"Hai!"

Major Hasegawa said respectfully: "According to the latest information we have received, there is a waterway in the Sihang Warehouse that can directly connect to the Suzhou River."

"My plan is to organize a special forces team to sneak into the Sihang Warehouse by water and launch a sudden attack to create chaos."

Jinwei Xun said thoughtfully: "According to the current situation, the garrison of Sihang Warehouse has about one regiment of troops. It will be difficult to capture Sihang Warehouse by just attacking from the water."

Major Hasegawa continued, "What the commander said is very true. We cannot succeed by just relying on a sneak attack, but if we coordinate with the external force, we can work together inside and outside, and it should not be difficult to capture the Sihang Warehouse."

"But based on our previous experience, it may not be easy to attack from the front, and the large army will not be able to deploy at all."

"I have carefully observed the surrounding terrain and feel that it would be more appropriate to attack from the west."

"We can mobilize some flat-fire artillery to bombard the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse from the west. From this angle, the shells will definitely not fall into the concession."

"We can close in and just hit the outer walls of the warehouse, blowing a few holes in the west wall."

"When it's night, the locust army will send out special forces to sneak in from the water for a surprise attack. At the same time, the main force outside will set up ladders and quietly enter the Sihang Warehouse from the west wall. With this combination of internal and external forces, we will surely be able to take down the Sihang Warehouse in one fell swoop while their defenses are empty."

"Yoshi~!"

Konoe Xun nodded slightly. He had been thinking about this problem for some time. Judging from the current situation, there seemed to be no more effective way.

"Just do as you say!"

"Before tomorrow morning, you must take over the Sihang Warehouse. If you fail, you will commit suicide by disembowelment."

"Hai!"

When Major Hasegawa heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He also understood that things had come to this point and he had no way out.

Major Hasegawa tried to calm down and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, I request that all the flat-fire artillery that can be mobilized be transferred to the front line to bombard the west wall of the Sihang Warehouse to open a breakthrough."

The Guardsman nodded and said, "That's absolutely no problem. Not only will I mobilize all the flat-fire cannons to you, but I will also mobilize all the tanks that can be mobilized to assist you in the battle."

"Remember, there is no room for error in this battle."

"Hai!"

Major Hasegawa responded respectfully: "Please rest assured, Commander, I will definitely do my best to capture the Sihang Warehouse."

……

"Boom~!"

"Boom~!"

A violent explosion suddenly sounded, and Li Guotao and others who were studying countermeasures in the regiment headquarters could not help but change their expressions.

Li Guotao rushed to the door and shouted: "What's going on?"

A soldier ran over and said, "The Japs are bombarding the west wall."

Li Guotao turned his head and glanced at Captain Xie and others.

Hearing this, Captain Xie frowned and said, "You're right. The Japanese are really going to attack from the west."

Li Guotao had previously speculated that the Japanese might launch an attack from the west, so he had people open some shooting holes on the west wall in advance.

Li Guotao said: "I'll go and see what the situation is."

Seeing Captain Xie nodded, Li Guotao ran out quickly.

At this moment, shells continued to hit the west wall, and violent explosions continued to sound.

Fortunately, the walls of the Sihang Warehouse were strong, and the power of the flat-fire cannon was limited, so the shells could not directly penetrate the walls.

However, such continuous bombing will eventually collapse the wall.

The Japanese artillery mainly bombarded the second to fourth floors, so Li Guotao climbed to the sixth floor, looked down from his vantage point, and looked out through the shooting holes.

I saw that on the open space on the west side, the Japanese had deployed several flat-fire cannons and also dispatched several tanks to continuously bombard the west wall.

Li Guotao observed for a while, looked back, and saw Xiao Qiyue hiding not far away, and ordered: "Don't watch the fun here."

"Go back and tell the regiment commander that the Japs have mobilized flat-fire artillery and tanks and are preparing to blow up the west wall."

"Yes!"

Xiao Qiyue responded quickly, turned around and left quickly.

Li Guotao raised his rifle, aimed at a Japanese soldier in the distance through the shooting hole, and pulled the trigger decisively.

“Snap~!”

A crisp gunshot was heard, and a Japanese soldier in the distance fell to the ground, killed on the spot.

Li Guotao kept changing positions, looking for opportunities to snipe the Japanese artillery outside.

Major Hasegawa was hiding in the distance. When he learned about this, he was so angry that he yelled, "Bagayadee."

"Continue the shelling and notify the artillerymen to stay safe."

"Order the engineers to build the barricades higher to protect against the enemy's bullets."

"Notify the sniper and try to kill the enemy who is shooting from the opposite side."

"Hayi~!"

Under the order of Major Hasegawa, the Japanese immediately used sandbags to build the barricades higher, blocking both sides of the cannon, leaving only one gun muzzle exposed, and continued to bombard the west wall.

The Japanese artillerymen also learned their lesson. They all hid in safe places, reloaded their ammunition, and continued to bombard the west wall.

Although the wall was strong, it was soon blown into several holes under the continuous bombardment of the Japanese.

The gaps are basically located on the second and third floors.

The Japanese continued to launch artillery bombardment, and shells flew into the warehouse from the gap from time to time, exploding with a loud bang.

Fortunately, the defenders were well prepared and had already hidden in a relatively safe place, so there were not too many casualties.

After bombarding for a while, the Japanese finally stopped the shelling temporarily.

But there was no rush to launch an attack.

The Japanese also sent out several snipers, who hid in the bank building opposite, in an attempt to shoot Li Guotao.

However, there are only some shooting holes on the west wall.

These shooting holes were relatively small, and Li Guotao was experienced. The continuous explosion of shells and the smoke and dust obscured the view, making it impossible for the Japanese to kill Li Guotao.

Instead, Li Guotao, with his superb marksmanship, killed four Japanese snipers one after another.

But at this point, Li Guotao was too lazy to continue wasting time with them, as it didn't make much sense.

Li Guotao also had to conserve his energy to prepare for the Japanese's all-out attack.

Li Guotao only told the soldiers to keep a close eye on the movements of the Japanese and not to expose their positions easily in case of a surprise attack from the Japanese, and then he returned to the regiment headquarters and met with Commander Xie again.

Captain Xie said: "It seems that the Japanese will definitely launch a strong attack from the west."

"I have asked my brothers to make full preparations. If the Japanese dare to attack, we will beat them hard."

"At this point, we can only go all out and try to hold on for a while longer."

Li Guotao said: "I just observed and found no signs that the Japanese were about to attack."

"In this way, we can conclude that the Japanese are preparing to launch a sneak attack at night."

Captain Yang couldn't help but curse: "These cunning little devils must have been scared by our attacks. They didn't dare to attack rashly and lose troops in vain. That's why they came up with the trick of a sneak attack."

Li Guotao said: "Although these beasts are fearless in battle, they will not waste their manpower in vain."

"The Sihang Warehouse is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even if a few holes are blown in the west wall, it will not be easy to break in."

"A strong attack will definitely result in the loss of a large number of troops, and a surprise attack is undoubtedly the best way."

"But it is not ruled out that they will think of other ways."

"But now we can only take it one step at a time. If water comes, we will block it with earth and if soldiers come, we will fight them with soldiers."

Captain Xie sighed helplessly and said, "Now that things have come to this, this is the only way to go."

"Since they are planning to launch a sneak attack at night, we must be prepared in advance."

"Let the brothers hide in a safe place to rest first, and be careful to conserve their energy."

"Only a few brothers will be left to monitor the Japanese. We must not let our guard down. Divide into several groups to take turns monitoring. Three guards must be arranged at each key position just in case."

"Yes!"

Captain Yang quickly responded: "Please rest assured, Commander, we will make adequate preparations and will not give the Japanese any chance to take advantage of us."

After Li Guotao left the regiment headquarters, he first checked the situation on each position. After confirming that there was no problem, he found a place to sleep.

Since it has been determined that the Japanese will launch a sneak attack at night, there is no need to continue wasting energy. The most important thing is to seize the time to rest and conserve energy.

Sure enough, until that night, although the Japanese launched several tentative attacks, they were basically just a lot of noise but little action. They were just attempts to create a tense atmosphere, and they did not actually storm the warehouse.

After dark, the battlefield finally became quiet.

Major Hasegawa also ordered his soldiers to rest early, conserve their energy and prepare for a surprise attack in the second half of the night.

It was soon early morning.

Behind a building a few hundred meters away from the warehouse, more than a hundred Japanese soldiers gathered and waited.

Major Hasegawa glanced at the group of Japanese soldiers and said seriously: "If you win this battle, you will become heroes of the empire."

"The eyes of the whole world are now on the Sihang Warehouse. If you can successfully seize the Sihang Warehouse, you will surely become a hero known all over the world."

"I am waiting for the news of your triumphant return."

"lets go!"

"Hayi~!"

Following the order from Major Hasegawa, the more than one hundred Japanese soldiers quietly came to the river under the cover of darkness, and then quietly went into the icy river water.

These Japanese soldiers were all carefully selected suicide squads with good swimming skills. They also understood that this trip would be a life-threatening one.

However, these little Japanese devils have been exposed to militarist ideas since childhood and have long been brainwashed into idiots.

They are all fearless and brave. For their damn Majesty the Heavenly Locust, these beasts are willing to sacrifice their lives at any time.

So even though they knew they had a life-or-death experience, these Japanese soldiers showed no fear at all. Instead, they were extremely excited.

Major Hasegawa arrived at a frontline position. At this moment, hundreds of Japanese soldiers had quietly ambushed on the position, with ladders ready, preparing to climb into the Sihang Warehouse from the west wall.

Major Hasegawa first observed the situation inside the warehouse. Seeing that the warehouse was quiet and pitch black, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Judging from the current situation, the warehouse defenders should not have noticed it.

In this way, as long as they can successfully attack the warehouse, it will not be so difficult to take it down.

If the warehouse is taken, he won't have to commit seppuku to apologize.

My life is saved.

After a while, Major Hasegawa raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and seeing that the time was almost up, he raised his hand and swung it forward fiercely.

At this time, the Japanese soldiers who had been prepared on the position carefully walked out of the position. The Japanese soldiers in front carried ladders and quietly approached the warehouse.

At this moment, the Japanese soldiers who were preparing to launch a sneak attack by water had already entered the waterway one by one and swam cautiously towards the warehouse.

After crossing dozens of meters of waterway, they can directly enter the basement of the warehouse.

The Japanese soldier walking in front swam carefully towards the inside while listening quietly to the movements inside.

Seeing that the warehouse was always quiet, the Japanese finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the defenders inside were not prepared.

These more than one hundred Japanese soldiers who launched a surprise attack all entered the waterway.

At this moment, the Japanese were completely unaware that their every move had actually been under surveillance by the defenders.

Since they had known for a long time that the Japanese might launch a sneak attack at night, the soldiers had already made preparations and were just waiting for the Japanese to fall into their trap.

At this moment, people in the opposite concession suddenly discovered the Japanese soldiers who were about to crawl into the warehouse for a sneak attack.

A searchlight from the concession immediately shone over there, and saw that the west wall was full of ladders and the Japanese were scrambling to climb up the ladders.

The man immediately shouted loudly.

"The Japs have crossed the line!"

Two Chinese policemen on patrol heard the shouting, took a look, and started shouting too.

The patrolman shouted and blew the whistle.

All of a sudden, the streets of the concession became lively, and nearby residents and refugees seeking shelter all started shouting at the top of their lungs.

Some people started beating gongs to sound the alarm. For a moment, the entire street along the river in the concession was in an uproar, and more and more people gathered.

Some residents who were originally asleep turned on the lights, opened the windows and looked out. When they learned about the situation, they all started shouting.

The people in the concession were beating drums and gongs simply to alert the defenders in the warehouse.

At this moment, the defenders were actually ready for battle.

More than 30 Japanese soldiers who sneaked in from the waterway took the opportunity to climb out and enter the basement.

Lei Xiong hid in a high place, observing the situation. When he saw the Japanese coming in, he immediately shouted, "Brothers, beat them to death."

(End of this chapter)