Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Li Guotao pondered for a moment, then asked, "Reporter Fang has a wide range of friends and is well-informed."

"I would like to ask, what is the attitude of the concession authorities towards this matter now?"

Fang Xingwen said: "According to what I have learned, the concession authorities are also very worried about this."

"They are worried that the fighting will spread to the concession, especially the gas tank on the other side of the river. If that thing explodes, the consequences will be disastrous."

"So the Municipal Council is also trying every possible way to communicate with the Japanese and Nanjing, hoping to end this battle as soon as possible."

"As for the specific situation, I don't know."

Li Guotao nodded and said, "I hope that reporter Fang can use his own channels to find out more about this. If there is any new situation, please inform us in time so that we can be prepared."

"no problem!"

Fang Xingwen readily agreed: "I am deeply honored to be able to do something for you anti-Japanese war heroes."

Li Guotao said politely: "Thank you very much, reporter Fang."

"Also, if reporter Fang gets any news, please inform us immediately."

"no problem."

Fang Xingwen smiled and said, "These are what I should do."

Li Guotao chatted with Fang Xingwen for a few more irrelevant things, and then signaled Fang Xingwen that he could leave.

Fang Xingwen also left tactfully.

Li Guotao then said to Captain Xie: "Captain, it seems that my previous guess was correct."

"The concession authorities may intervene, and the Japanese have suffered heavy losses. For the time being, there should be no better way to capture the warehouse, but we don't want to continue to waste troops in vain."

"Then they will definitely try to put pressure on the concession authorities, threatening them with sending troops into the concession to attack, or using heavy artillery and aircraft and other weapons."

"Then let the concession authorities put pressure on Nanjing. Once Nanjing can't withstand the pressure from the great powers, our situation will be dangerous."

"Excuse me for being blunt, but once the pressure from the great powers becomes too great, Nanjing will not care about the lives of these hundreds of us for the sake of the overall situation."

"By then, we may very well become abandoned."

Upon hearing this, Captain Xie could not help but frown and fell into deep thought. He had indeed never thought about these things before.

Because when they came to the Sihang Warehouse before, they all came with the belief that they would die, they didn't think too much about it, and they didn't have any long-term plans.

At this time, after Li Guotao's reminder, Captain Xie also realized the seriousness of the problem. For a moment, he was hesitant and even felt a little confused, not knowing what to do.
Captain Yang asked, "What do you think we should do?"

Li Guotao shook his head and said, "To be honest, I don't know now."

"But I will never put my fate in the hands of others."

"If I die on the battlefield, that's fine. I don't want to die in frustration or meaninglessly."

Captain Yang then asked, "What does it mean to die in frustration?"

Li Guotao explained: "I have told you before that if the great powers put pressure on us, Nanjing may not be able to withstand the pressure and will take the initiative to let us retreat to the concession, so that we don't have to fight this war."

"But those foreigners will never allow us to enter the concession with weapons. Once we enter the concession, they will definitely disarm us in order to facilitate their control of the situation."

"You should also know that those foreigners are always self-righteous and condescending. They don't regard us as human beings at all. In their eyes, we are only worthy of being trampled under their feet, so they will definitely not give in to us."

"But we fought in Sihang Warehouse for so long and killed so many Japanese soldiers."

"Do you think the Japanese will let us go easily? Once we are detained by the concession, if the Japanese take this opportunity to put pressure on the concession, will those foreigners hand us over to the Japanese directly?"

"I don't dare to take the risk anyway."

Captain Yang looked at Captain Xie and said, "Commander, I think what Li Guotao said makes sense."

"We are not afraid of death, but it would be too cowardly to die in such a miserable way."

Captain Xie said with an embarrassed look on his face: "What if the higher-ups firmly order us to retreat into the concession?"

"Can we still disobey orders?"

Everyone present fell silent.

Li Guotao said: "If you don't resist, you will die."

"It is a worthy death to die for the country, but I don't think any of you would agree to become a political victim in such a depressing way."

"It's nothing, actually. We just ask not to surrender our weapons and to retreat safely to the west of Shanghai."

"The concession authorities were afraid that if the fighting continued, the frenzied Japanese would do something crazy, which would affect the safety of the concession."

"They should be eager for us to leave this troubled place as soon as possible."

"So as long as we insist on not surrendering our weapons to the concession authorities, they will definitely not insist on doing so in order to get rid of us as quickly as possible."

"So we are not disobeying orders, we are just asking the concession authorities to make certain concessions, as long as they open a road for us to retreat."

"As long as we stick to this bottom line, our destiny can be in our own hands."

"Otherwise, you will just be at the mercy of others."

Captain Xie pondered for a moment and said, "But all this is just our speculation."

"No one can predict how the situation will develop."

Li Guotao said: "I know, this is just the worst-case scenario."

"It's better to discuss it in advance than to cram at the last minute."

"it is good!"

Captain Xie seemed to have finally made up his mind and said, "Let's do as you say!"

"If it really comes to that, we can only do this."

"These foreigners are really unreliable."

When Li Guotao heard this, he was obviously relieved.

Li Guotao was giving them a heads-up in advance. Now that Captain Xie was mentally prepared, things would naturally be easier in the future.

Li Guotao turned his head and looked in the direction of the concession, where there was still a scene of singing and dancing, as if this war had nothing to do with them.

Perhaps only in China during this period would such a ridiculous scene occur.

……

At the same time, in the bank building opposite.

Konoe Xun and Okawauchi Denshichi were standing at a window, observing the situation in the warehouse opposite.

At this moment, the two old Japanese were also frowning and had a lot on their minds.

They had reported the situation of the previous battle to the headquarters, but what they got in return was the scolding they had expected. In addition, the commander, General Matsui, asked them to continue to find ways to capture the Sihang Warehouse.

But the problem is that these two old devils really have no other tricks left.

Okawauchi Denshichi observed the situation for a while, then said, "Konoe-kun, do you have any other ideas?"

Konoe Xun said helplessly: "General Okawa, we have already used all means."

"The enemy is too cunning, the Sihang Warehouse is too strong, and we cannot use heavy artillery and other weapons. It is impossible to fight a war with such restrictions."

"If we continue to attack, the losses will be too great. If we continue to fight in the same way as before, it will probably take thousands of lives of the Locust Army warriors to succeed in taking the Sihang Warehouse."

"But for this small warehouse, it's really not worth it."

Okawauchi Denshichi nodded in agreement, but he was also out of ideas.

As we all know, the Japanese army and navy have always been at odds with each other, and the generals of the army and navy are also at odds with each other. They even fought at military meetings, and the resentment has been going on for a long time.

There are many reasons for this situation.

The main reason was actually that the devil Tianhuang did it on purpose.

Because the Japanese had experienced a shogunate period of nearly seven hundred years. During the so-called shogunate period, all power was in the hands of the shogun, and the locust was just a mascot with no real power.

It was not until the Meiji period that the emperor regained real power.

Precisely because of this history, Tian Huang holds on to military power tightly.

Both the army and navy high-ranking officials are supervised by royal princes.

As for the conflict between the army and navy, to a large extent, it was also deliberately created by Tian Huang. After all, if your army and navy were in harmony, Tian Huang would not be able to sleep well.

Konoe Isamu and Okawauchi Denshichi also disliked each other, but now they are on the same boat.

If they fail to take over the Sihang Warehouse, both of them will be punished.

So now the two old devils have rarely put aside their past grudges and are calmly working together to discuss countermeasures.

But as Konoe Xun said just now, all the tricks that could be used were indeed used, but the results were not ideal, and could even be said to be very bad.

Okawauchi Denshichi sighed helplessly and said, "Konoe-kun is right, but I have observed that the enemy's will to resist is still very tenacious."

"So it is unlikely to lure them into surrender."

Jinweixun nodded and said, "Under such circumstances, they still chose to stay in the Sihang Warehouse to fight against the locust army. They must have made plans to die."

"With such determination, it is impossible to induce them to surrender, at least in the short term."

"Unless the siege is long-term and their psychological defenses gradually collapse, we will have a chance."

Okawauchi Denshichi said helplessly: "But unfortunately, the commander will not give us that much time."

"The locust army has now occupied the entire urban area, and the main force of the enemy in the Songhu area is also showing a trend of collapse."

"And the locust army couldn't even take over a small warehouse like Sihang. This is a huge shame for the locust army of the empire."

"Until we take over the Sihang Warehouse, we will never be able to avenge our humiliation."

"We can't keep them under siege for a long time and wear them down until they have a mental breakdown."

Konoe Xun stared at the warehouse opposite and said, "It just so happens that it is a warehouse with a lot of supplies stored in it. It used to be the headquarters of the 88th Division, so it must have stored a lot of strategic supplies."

"In this case, it is almost impossible to exhaust their ammunition and food in a short period of time."

"The situation at hand is indeed too difficult. At least so far, there is no better solution."

Okawauchi Denshichi pondered for a moment and asked, "Konoe-kun, should we still launch an attack?"

The Guards said helplessly: "I think that if we launch an attack rashly before we come up with a practical and effective solution, it will only increase casualties and will not make much sense at all."

"The lives of the Locust Warriors are also extremely precious."

Okawauchi Denshichi said, "I know this, but how should I explain this to the commander?"

Konoe Xun said helplessly: "I can only report the truth. Does General Okawa have a better way?"

Okawauchi Denshichi shook his head slightly, indicating that he had no better idea.

The old Japanese looked at the warehouse opposite again, and his brows frowned even deeper.

The more Okawauchi Denshichi thought about it, the angrier he became. He gritted his teeth and cursed, "These damn bastards, it's just a warehouse, but they built it so solidly."

……

Li Guotao was leaning against a pillar to rest when a soldier came running over.

"Staff Officer Li, there's something going on."

Li Guotao immediately perked up after hearing this and asked, "Are the Japanese going to attack again?"

The soldier shook his head and said, "No, but we found a few Japanese soldiers on the opposite side, hiding behind a window in a corner, observing the situation."

"We guessed that he was a high-ranking official of the Japanese."

Li Guotao was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly ran to the outside of the west wall and observed the situation on the opposite side through a shooting hole.

The window chosen by the Japanese was located in a corner and was not easy to find in the warehouse.

Li Guotao observed for a while and indeed found that there was a Japanese soldier in the window, but from this angle, it was difficult to hit the opponent, at least there was no absolute certainty.

Li Guotao observed the situation, judged the angle, and then went to the second floor.

A large hole was blown open on the west wall of the second floor, which was much larger than the shooting hole upstairs.

From this angle, the view is also broader.

But it also means greater danger. Now, if anyone on their side is exposed in this gap, he will be shot and killed immediately by the Japanese on the opposite side.

There are also many Japanese soldiers hiding in the dark, always monitoring the movements here. Once they find someone exposed in the warehouse, these Japanese soldiers will not show mercy.

The Japanese were very good at shooting. In the past few days, several soldiers were shot and killed by the enemy because they accidentally exposed themselves.

Li Guotao hid behind the wall next to the gap. According to his judgment, there would be no problem in killing the enemy behind the window from this gap.

But doing this is somewhat risky.

If you are not careful, you may lose your life.

However, Li Guotao is not an ordinary person. After thinking for a moment, Li Guotao called a soldier to his side and gave him a few instructions to be on the safe side.

The soldier immediately left carefully and went all the way up to the third floor.

There is also a relatively large gap on the third floor.

Following Li Guotao's instructions, the soldier used a wooden stick with some rags wrapped around the end to make it into a ball, like a human head, and put on a military cap. Then he carefully moved the end of the stick slowly to the gap, creating the illusion that someone was using the gap to observe outside. (End of this chapter)