One man's resistance against Japan, I mobilized a million people to aid Shanghai.

"Commander Wang, Luodian has fallen, leaving our flank wide open. Please hold Gujia Town for three more days to buy time for our army to establish defensive fortifications in Jiaxing!"

Zhang Zhizhong's voice was extremely solemn.

Wang Lei thought he had misheard, and a chill instantly ran up his spine to the top of his head.

"What?! Luo's shop is gone?!"

Wang Lei's voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief and anger.

"Luodian had several elite divisions under Commander Chen, and they were reporting victories just a few days ago. How could they suddenly be lost?! What exactly happened?!"

On the other end of the phone, Zhang Zhizhong's voice was filled with suppressed anger as he said in a deep voice:

"Cixiu misjudged the enemy situation and underestimated the Japanese troops on his flank."

"The main forces of the 3rd and 13th Divisions, with the cover of naval gunfire, carried out a large-scale flanking maneuver from the direction of Yuepu and Yangxing."

"By the time he realized it, the Japanese scouts were already close to his command post."

"With the flank defenses completely breached, in order to prevent the main force of the 15th Army from being encircled, he had no choice but to order the abandonment of Luodian and a full retreat!"

Zhang Zhizhong's words struck Wang Lei's heart like a heavy hammer.

With the loss of Luodian, the left flank of the Shanghai-Nanjing battlefield was wide open, allowing the Japanese to advance along the Luodian-Jiading-Nanxiang route and threaten the flank and rear of the entire Nationalist army's defense line.

All the bloody battles and sacrifices of countless soldiers in Luodian and Gujia Town have been in vain.

Wang Lei's heart sank to the bottom. The current battlefield situation was extremely precarious, and one wrong move could lead to utter destruction.

To hold off the Japanese invaders, the only option was to defend Gujia Town to the death. It was a transportation hub at the mouth of the Chuanjiang River and the mouth of the Songhu River. If the Japanese wanted to advance inland, they had to remove this thorn in their side.

Otherwise, their logistics would be threatened, and the transfer would be extremely troublesome.

More importantly, this was the last barrier preventing the Japanese from advancing south from Luodian and joining forces with the Japanese forces on the front lines to form a pincer attack.

But can the 108th Division still hold out?

He said in a hoarse voice:

"Commander-in-Chief, you are aware of the situation of my 108th Division! After holding out for seven days, we have suffered over 80% casualties!"

"Ammunition is almost exhausted, food and medicine are cut off, and the brothers are holding on by sheer willpower. There are less than two thousand men who can still hold a gun, and everyone is wounded and exhausted."

"What do you expect me to use to hold out for three more days?! The lives of my brothers?!"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, with only heavy breathing heard.

After a long silence, Zhang Zhizhong's voice rang out again, his voice carrying an almost choked plea.

"Commander Wang, the 108th Division is all outstanding. They held out for seven days under the threat of Japanese planes and naval guns. They are great heroes of our army."

"But...but I really have no other choice..."

"Commander Wang, I know this is asking the impossible, that it's pushing you to your deaths..."

"But...I, Zhang Zhizhong, representing the Ninth Army Group, representing the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Shanghai battlefield...I beg you...for the sake of the millions of people in Shanghai behind us, please hold out for three more days! Just three more days!"

"Gujia Town cannot be lost now. Once Gujia Town is lost to us, the Japanese can advance westward without any hindrance along the Luodian-Gujia Town line."

"Our flanks will be completely exposed to the enemy's offensive, and the entire Shanghai-Nanjing defense line is in danger of collapsing."

"The rear is now making every effort to urgently build a second line of defense in Jiading and Nanxiang, and we need these last three days."

"Commander Wang... I, Zhang Zhizhong... am begging you."

The helplessness and despair in the voice of a general, the commander of an army group, pleading so humbly with a division commander, almost broke the telephone line.

Wang Lei's hand, gripping the receiver, was bulging with veins.

He closed his eyes, and his mind flashed Wang Jingjiu's dying words, the faces of countless comrades who had fallen in the past seven days, and the scorched earth soaked in blood.

He knew that Zhang Zhizhong was not exaggerating.

Gujia Town has nowhere left to retreat to.

And they, too, had nowhere to retreat!

"Commander-in-Chief, I understand."

"108th Division, obey orders and defend Gujia Town to the death for three more days."

"Okay! Commander Wang, thank you, thank you so much!"

Zhang Zhizhong's voice choked with emotion.

"I will do everything in my power, even at the cost of lives, to send you a batch of ammunition and food! The air force will also provide full cover! You...you must hold on!"

The phone hangs up.

Wang Lei and Zhu Yong both stood still, motionless.

He understood that all the brothers of the 108th Division would likely die in Gujia Town.

But given the situation, how could he back down?

"Order!"

"Summon all officers of battalion level and above to headquarters!"

Soon, Zhou Weiguo and the remaining battalion commanders and others were all summoned to the command post.

They had already been preparing for their retreat, and their sudden summons left them all somewhat puzzled.

Inside the command post.

Wang Lei slowly turned around, facing faces covered in gunpowder, blood, and exhaustion, yet still filled with inquiry and expectation.

He scanned the entire room, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"We just received orders from headquarters. Luodian... has fallen."

One sentence, like a bolt from the blue, turned everyone's face instantly deathly pale.

Luodian is lost? What does that mean? They, who have been through many battles, know very well.

"The Japanese are advancing south from Luodian, intending to encircle our main force with the enemy on the front lines. Orders have been issued to our unit..."

Wang Lei paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd like a knife.

"At all costs, hold Gujia Town for three days to buy time for the rear to build a new defense line in Jiading."

Dead silence.

Absolute silence enveloped the entire command post.

Everyone understood what it meant to hold out for three days when they were out of ammunition and food, suffering heavy casualties, and with no hope of reinforcements.

This was a mission that was guaranteed to result in certain death.

The air froze, and despair, like an icy tide, engulfed everyone.

Zhou Weiguo suddenly raised his head, looked at Wang Lei, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end no sound came out.

He saw the unfathomable calm in Wang Lei's eyes, a resolute calm that had long since disregarded life and death.

Wang Lei took a deep breath, his tiger-like eyes filled with tears, and slammed his fist into the earthen wall beside him, sending sand and dirt falling in a flurry.

"Brothers, I know you are all very tired and want to retreat, have a good meal, and get a good night's sleep."

"But......"

"Can we retreat?"

"If Luodian is lost and we also leave, then hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters, hundreds of thousands of our fellow villagers, will be exposed to the Japanese devils' butcher's knife."

"Look at Gujia Town! Look at this land beneath our feet! It is soaked with the blood of countless brothers from the 108th and 87th Divisions!"

"Commander Wang Jingjiu entrusted the position and his brothers to me before he died. Was he just going to let us desert at the last moment and let our brothers' blood be shed in vain?!"

"Brothers, tell me now... can we retreat?"

"cannot!"

"No, you can't!"

Wang Lei declared resolutely, "We are soldiers! Defending our territory and resisting the enemy is our sacred duty!"

"Today, we stand here not for any one person or any officer, but for the country behind us!"

"I know that staying here would most likely mean death."

"But death can be as light as a feather or as heavy as Mount Tai! We die here today to buy life for our brothers behind us, and for victory tomorrow!"

"Our names may be forgotten, but what we did will be remembered by history and by the nation!"

"Three days! Just three days! I, Wang Lei, swear to God here and now that I will live and die with Gujia Town! I will live and die with every one of my brothers!"

"As long as one of us remains alive, as long as we breathe, we will never let the Japanese devils cross even a single step into Gujia Town!"

"Those who aren't afraid to die, stay with me! Those who are afraid to die, you can leave now, I won't stop you!"