Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 101 Critical Moment

By the time he came out of the headquarters, it was already evening. Looking at the crowds of people coming and going on the streets, Su Yaoyang had a moment of disbelief. Was this what a big city was like in the 1930s and 40s?
Interestingly enough, although Su Yaoyang had been in this time and space for several months, this was the first time he had experienced the charm of a big city in this era.

The setting sun dyed the cement road on the street orange-red. A female student in a blue cotton shirt stepped through puddles, her whitewashed skirt brushing against the gray wall with slogans posted on it. The four words "Give Me Back My Rivers and Mountains" with the ink still wet reflected slightly behind her.

Two boys wearing round-framed glasses were standing on a bench giving speeches, their Adam's apples bobbing up and down with their impassioned tones. When they got excited, their voices even cracked. The song "On the Songhua River" could be heard from not far away.

Looking at the scene before him, Su Yaoyang suddenly had an urge to pull Song Mei and Xiao Lu over to take a picture together. If they could take a picture in this era, it might become a testament to history in the 21st century.

"Sir...the car is here!" Xu Dapeng's voice rang in my ears.

He turned to look at Xu Dapeng. He had originally wanted to promote him to battalion commander, but the kid's ability to lead troops was limited. Being a company commander was the best he could do. So after asking for his opinion, he simply transferred him to his side to serve as his guard company commander.

“Let’s go…” After glancing around again, Su Yaoyang turned and got into the Willys Jeep, which was then escorted out of the city by a truck full of soldiers…

Unbeknownst to Su Yaoyang, after he left, a staff officer rushed over and whispered a few words in Li Zongren's ear.

Upon hearing the staff officer's words, Li Zongren's expression changed slightly, and he waved his hand, "Let's go...go and take a look..."

…………

On October 23, 1938, the 10th Division of the Japanese Army under the command of Rensuke Isogai organized a powerful offensive, supported by aircraft, tanks and artillery, and launched a major attack on Taierzhuang via Liujiahu.

Taierzhuang Frontal Position

Smoke and the stench of blood swirled among the ruins of Taierzhuang. Wang Guanwu, the commander of the 181st Regiment, struggled to his feet, clutching his empty pistol and leaning against a half-collapsed wall, panting heavily.

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, he kicked away the crooked sandbags and jumped onto the fortification. Suddenly, the bricks and stones under his feet exploded into hot fragments... A bullet fired from a Type 38 rifle was embedded in the spot where he had just been standing.

"Fuck those damn Japanese devils!"

Wang Guanwu, who had narrowly escaped death, was so frightened that he swore.

Looking up, he could only see the Japanese flag flickering in the machine gun fire across the moat. He spat out bloody saliva and let out a hoarse roar: "Machine gun company, hold down the breach on the east side!"

Before the words were finished, a grenade launcher blasted half of the bell and drum tower behind them, and amidst the flying debris, a raw recruit huddled in a corner, clutching his bleeding ear and trembling.

Wang Guanwu grabbed the kid by the back of his collar and dragged him into the trench, yelling as he pulled, "Kid, are you out of your mind? You see a shell and you don't even know to hide!"

Faced with Wang Guanwu's angry curses, the recruit whose eardrums had been ruptured by the shockwave could not hear anything and just stared blankly at him.

“Sigh…” Wang Guanwu shook his head helplessly, turned around and looked around, and found that his two guards had fallen into a pool of blood.

He searched alone in the dilapidated trenches for a long time before finally finding Gao Hongli, the battalion commander in charge of the position.

He asked loudly, "First Battalion Commander, what's the casualty situation here?"

Gao Hongli, holding a Mauser pistol in his left hand, wiped the blood from his face and replied, "Commander, more than 300 of our 500-plus brothers have been killed or wounded. If we keep fighting like this, we'll be lucky if we can hold out until tomorrow. You should call the division commander as soon as possible and ask him to send reinforcements, even if it's just artillery support."

"Let me tell you, Gao Hongli, the troops on all positions are currently very short-handed, and there are no reinforcements. As for artillery support, I will call the division commander later to see if we can get the artillery company to provide us with a round of support."

But I'm telling you, you must hold this position. Retreat is strictly prohibited without orders from above. Commander Sun (Sun Lianzhong) said long ago that this battle is one of advance or retreat; those who advance will be rewarded, those who retreat will be killed. I don't want to see you taken away by the military court, understand?"

"Yes!"

Gao Hongli put his legs together and said, “Please rest assured, Commander, even if I die, I will die on the battlefield rather than be shot by the military law department.”

"That's good!"

After giving a few more instructions, Wang Guanwu returned to the 181st Regiment headquarters.

Back at the regimental headquarters, Wang Guanwu dialed the division headquarters: "Commander, this is Wang Guanwu."

"Our regiment is in a very bad situation. We've suffered heavy casualties, and the Japanese offensive is getting fiercer and fiercer. Please send us some reinforcements, even just a battalion would be helpful."

"Reinforcements... I only have eight men here. How about I go to your place and you come here to command?" Chi Fengcheng's shout came from the phone. "Let me tell you, even if you die, you'd better hold this position for me!"

After hanging up the phone, Chi Fengcheng stood there in a daze for a while, then turned to ask Kang Faru, the deputy division commander beside him: "How many brothers in our entire division are still able to hold a gun?"

Kang Faru's expression darkened: "Commander... there are now fewer than three thousand people in the entire division who can still hold a gun."

Moreover, several positions on the main front have already fallen; if this continues, I'm afraid…

A look of pain flashed across Chi Fengcheng's face. After replenishment before the battle, the 31st Division had a total of more than 8,000 officers and soldiers. In less than a week, they lost more than 5,000 men. The battle was really too brutal.

After hesitating for a moment, Chi Fengcheng walked to the table and picked up the black phone. "Hello... connect me to Mr. Sun... Mr. Sun?"

I am Chi Fengcheng. Our division is now... what... telling us to hold on?

"General Sun, I beg you, please let our division retreat first?"

"What...you want to retreat?" Sun Lianzhong roared on the phone, "Then come see me with your head on your hands! I'll go see Commander Li with my head on my hands!"

"General Sun, let's retreat to the south bank of the canal and catch our breath!"

"Shut up! Absolutely not!" The phone was hung up with Sun Lianzhong's furious shout.

Chi Fengcheng gripped the microphone, Sun Lianzhong's angry rebukes still echoing in his ears...

"If Taierzhuang falls, you'll come to me with your head!"

He slowly put down the phone, a metallic taste rising in his throat. He coughed violently a few times, and blood appeared on his palm. The adjutant hurriedly offered him a water bottle, but he waved it away.

"Commander, you need to rest for a while..."

Chi Fengcheng shook his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the battle map. Two-thirds of the city of Taierzhuang was marked in red—that was the area occupied by the Japanese army. His 31st Division had suffered more than half its casualties, with some companies reduced to only a dozen men, yet the Japanese army still surged in like a tide.

(End of this chapter)