Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 158 The eve of the decisive battle
Zhabei, Marine Corps Headquarters Building

The atmosphere in the regiment headquarters was extremely depressing. The defeat of hundreds of thousands of troops made everyone feel like they had something stuck in their throats. They wanted to curse, but they didn't know who to curse.
In fact, the top leaders of the 527th Regiment had already deduced this result repeatedly. They had also made suggestions to the National Government through various channels, but unfortunately to no avail.

There may be some local changes, but they will not affect the overall situation. The 67th Army held out for three days in Songjiang, which was enough time for an orderly retreat.
However, the retreat turned into a major rout, which made the 527th Regiment's persistence in Zhabei seem meaningless, and the morale of the troops was very low;

Yue Qianli knew that he couldn't continue like this, so he gathered his strength and said:
"Brothers, at least we held back the 9th Division, annihilated the 7th Regiment, crippled the 9th Cavalry Regiment and the 19th Infantry Regiment, and killed thousands of devils. This is a real result, so our sacrifice and persistence are worth it."

After hearing this, everyone was refreshed. He Qizheng took over and said:

“That’s right, although we lost the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese also paid the price of nearly 100,000 people. Most of them were veterans of the permanent divisions. It would be difficult to replenish them if they died.

The head of the regiment once said that this was a national war and a protracted war, which concerned the survival of the nation;

Win or lose, we must fight on, even if it takes ten or twenty years, even if it destroys the mountains and rivers. We would rather die in glory than live in disgrace!

"Captain, just lead us to continue fighting the ghosts. As long as I, He Qizheng, am still alive, I will follow you to fight the devils!"

"Yes, I will follow you to fight the devils. I would rather die in battle than become a slave of a conquered nation!"

Deputy Regiment Commander Tian Yuanxi also spoke passionately, and everyone echoed him. Morale was high again, and some even took the lead in shouting slogans such as "Down with the Japanese invaders, and fight to the end";

Duan Yaqin also seized the opportunity to capture this passionate moment. She planned to publish it in the Central Daily News and even thought of a title - Never Give Up!
At the 9th Division Headquarters, Yoshika Ryosuke swept away the previous haze and became full of fighting spirit again. The Chief of Staff, Colonel Nakagawa Hiroshi, made a timely suggestion:
"Mr. Division Commander, as you expected, with the landing of the Tenth Army in Hangzhou Bay, the Chinese people's will to resist disappeared instantly, which became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
As the saying goes, a defeat is like a mountain collapsing. An army that has lost its will to fight, no matter how many there are, is just a lamb to be slaughtered!

The divisions have already started a carnival. It is as easy as taking candy from a bag to destroy the hundreds of thousands of retreating troops. The empire has already won the middle game. The demise of China is only a matter of time.
The next step is to capture Nanjing. There is at least 527 days of buffer period. If we launch the encirclement and annihilation of the 10th Regiment now, as long as the battle is resolved within days, the th Division will not miss the feast of capturing Nanjing."

Yoshika Ryosuke said ambitiously:
"Mr. Nakagawa, you are too conservative. It would take more than 527 days to destroy a small 10th Regiment. Their morale is also low and their spirit is greatly reduced.

Without the morale of the army, how can Yue Qianli hold out for ten days?"

Colonel Nakagawa Hiroshi thought about it and realized that hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops had been defeated, and it was a miracle that Yue Qianli could hold on until now with only a few thousand remaining soldiers. Thinking of this, he also became eager to try and continued:
"Your Excellency the Division Commander has a profound insight. The time to encircle and annihilate the 527th Regiment is ripe. According to Ren Jianjun's report, their tunnels have been dug to the basement of the headquarters. We can start the blasting now!"

"Yoshi, let's make those electric people Jian Xiusan launch a general attack!
Another 500 brave men were drawn from the baggage regiment to supplement the 19th regiment, and 6 infantry guns from the th mountain artillery regiment were drawn to support Ren Jianjun;

Tell him that the Mountain Artillery Regiment will give them the last artillery support and that they must capture the headquarters building within three days, otherwise he will be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor! " Nakagawa Hiroshi's expression was solemn. This order left no room for Jian Xiusan to retreat. Either Yue Qianli died or he died. The division commander's patience had reached its limit.

At the 19th Regiment Headquarters, Hitomi Hidezo was in a good mood as well. The Engineer Regiment had sent word that their tunnel had been dug underneath the main entrance of the headquarters building, and they only needed to load enough explosives to blow up the building.
The captain of the engineering corps told him confidently that as long as there were enough explosives, it would be no problem to raze the entire building to the ground.

This proposal was rejected by him. The Marine Corps had spent more than ten years to build the headquarters building, and he could not explain to them if it was razed to the ground. He even said to Major Hirose jokingly:

"Hirose-kun, Yue Qianli and his men's lives are not worth even 10% of the headquarters building's value. If it's razed to the ground, the Navy will definitely take the case to the Emperor."

Major Hirose also agreed with this and said jokingly:
"The upstarts in the navy only care about money. They have wasted all the resources of the empire. Only they would think of building a half-meter thick concrete wall. It is said that the steel consumed is enough to arm ten heavy artillery regiments. It is too extravagant!"

At this moment, the communications staff rushed over and reported loudly:
"Your Excellency, Commander, an urgent message from the division headquarters!"

Hitomi Hidezo quickly took it and looked at it, his smile widened, and he said to Major Hirose:
“Hirose-kun, our division commander is eager to get Yue Qianli’s head, and I have been waiting for his order;

This time, Your Excellency not only gave us 500 reinforcements, but also 6 infantry guns. The mountain artillery regiment will also provide sufficient firepower support and tell the warriors to prepare for the general attack.

It is said that we should make a concerted effort. I will not give them three days. We will launch the general attack at 8 a.m. tomorrow. The first battle will be the decisive battle. Everyone in the headquarters building must be loyal to His Majesty!"

Since the division commander didn't leave him a way to retreat, there was no need for him to leave any chance for others to survive. Either they captured the headquarters building and everyone would live, or they would all die!
There was a strong murderous intent in Hitomi Hidezo's words. Yue Qianli could sense it from a distance. He was also waiting for this moment.
He knew very well what the Japanese were planning. They had already overheard the Japanese digging tunnels on the first floor, and the tunnels of both sides were very close to each other.

Yue Qianli knew the devil's tricks, but he didn't have a good way to crack them. This was an open conspiracy;
He could counter explosion with explosion, but that would consume too much explosives and wouldn't be very effective.

Fortunately, the headquarters building is a group of fortresses, stretching for hundreds of meters. How many meters can they blow down?
His response was very simple, if you can't provoke them, then hide away, and withdraw the troops a hundred meters away and let them bomb;

After the explosion, there was only ruins and rubble everywhere. The Japanese couldn't gain any advantage either. It would be better to use the explosives to bomb the Japanese.

During the truce, the baggage train had been rushing to make explosive packs and rockets. Due to the sufficient supplies, they had rushed to make more than 300 explosive packs, each of which required 3.75 kilograms of explosives, consuming a total of more than 1 kilograms of explosives.

In addition, more than 100 107 rockets and 200 40 rockets were produced in a rush. With these equipment, Yue Qianli became more confident and said to the devils from a distance:
"Come on, little devils!"

(End of this chapter)