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

millipede.

Wang Lei led 20,000 soldiers with high morale, rapidly advancing westward towards Jiading along roads ravaged by artillery fire.

When they arrived at Baihegang, the scouts encountered Japanese sentries.

"Bang bang bang!"

Gunshots rang out instantly.

"What's going on?!" Wang Lei suddenly pulled on the reins and shouted sternly.

"Commander! A large force of Japanese troops has been spotted ahead! It's about a brigade! They're advancing along the main road towards... towards Luodian! The vanguard has already engaged them!"

"What??"

Wang Lei immediately realized that these must be the Japanese soldiers who came to besiege Luodian.

Unexpectedly, the two sides clashed head-on in this way.

"Immediately construct defensive positions on the spot, and order the left and right flanks to encircle them. Since these Japanese devils dare to come, they won't be leaving!"

Almost at the same time, the Japanese troops on the other side also discovered the 10th Division.

Major General Yamamoto, the brigade commander, was on horseback when he never expected to encounter such a large Nationalist army dozens of miles away from Luodian.

"Baka! It's the main force of the Chinese army! Prepare for battle!!" Major General Yamamoto roared, drawing his command sword with a hoarse voice.

In an instant, the two sides started fighting at Baihegang.

Wang Lei's unit gained an initial advantage and, after learning that the Japanese only had one brigade, began to launch an offensive.

The 108th Division was in high spirits and had nearly twice the strength of the enemy, while the Japanese were on the march and were inevitably flustered when they suddenly encountered the enemy.

"First and second regiments, flank them from the left! Third and fourth regiments, launch a frontal assault! Artillery regiment, aim at the Japanese marching column and bombard them!"

The Nationalist troops quickly deployed into battle formation, and machine gun fire rapidly seized the high ground, unleashing a fierce barrage of fire on the somewhat chaotic Japanese troops on the road.

The heavy artillery that Zhu Yong left him played a huge role.

The shells landed precisely in the dense ranks of the Japanese soldiers, exploding into bursts of fire and smoke, causing the Japanese soldiers to fall to their deaths.

The Japanese suffered heavy losses as soon as the two sides clashed.

However, the Yamamoto Brigade was, after all, an elite force of the 3rd Division. After the initial chaos, they immediately began to organize resistance by utilizing the terrain, thanks to their excellent tactical skills.

Yamamoto realized that the enemy had superior numbers and firepower, and that it would be difficult for him to win in a head-on confrontation. So he simply ordered his troops to build defensive fortifications on the spot and hold out for reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto's forces quickly deployed light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers to form a fire network in an attempt to stabilize the situation.

Wang Lei's troops surged in from three sides like a tide, especially their flanking maneuvers, which put enormous pressure on Yamamoto's brigade.

The battle was intense from the very beginning, with hand-to-hand combat erupting simultaneously at multiple points of contact.

"Kill! Avenge our fallen brothers!"

"Black Card Incident! Banzai!"

Enemies meeting are bound to be furious, and they fought to the death, neither taking a single step back.

Seeing the enemy's ferocity, Yamamoto retreated and sought a hilly high ground for defense, while immediately sending a telegram to the 3rd Division command and headquarters requesting support.

"Our unit has encountered a major attack from the main force of the Chinese army at Baihegang. The enemy has approximately 20,000 troops and is launching a fierce offensive! Our unit is engaged in a fierce battle and requests tactical guidance! Urgent! Requesting air support!"

When the telegram reached the Izumo in Shanghai, Matsui Iwane, who had just been somewhat relieved by the smooth progress on the southern front, flew into a rage once again.

"Baka! It's the Chinese army from the Luodian direction again?! They actually dared to launch a preemptive attack?! And they even surrounded Yamamoto's brigade?!"

"Order the air force to take off immediately and support Yamamoto's brigade! Order the 13th Division to accelerate its advance and join forces with the 3rd Division to completely annihilate this audacious Chinese army!"

Soon, the carrier-based aircraft began to take off.

In less than ten minutes, the Japanese air support spotted the battlefield and, following ground instructions, began dive bombing and strafing attacks on Wang Lei's attacking formation.

The bombs fell, and flames shot into the sky, causing considerable casualties to the attacking troops and halting the offensive.

Wang Lei looked up at the Japanese planes raging in the sky, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

"Commander! The Japanese planes are too audacious! Moreover, scouts report that large groups of Japanese troops are rapidly moving this way from the east and south! Judging by their flags, it's the Japanese 13th Division!"

Wang Lei's heart sank; his worst fears had come true.

A single brigade is already a tough nut to crack; if you add a full 13th Division to the mix... his 20,000 men will be in dire straits.

"We can't let them surround us!" Wang Lei made a decisive decision. "Yu Xiaoqing!"

"Here!" Yu Xiaoqing, the regimental commander of the Sichuan Army Corps, who was covered in blood, strode forward.

"I'm giving you the Sichuan Army Corps, plus an additional battalion! Your mission is to establish a blocking position behind our lines!"

"At all costs, hold off the vanguard of the Japanese 13th Division! Buy us time to annihilate this brigade!"

Wang Lei pointed to a key pass on the map, "Right here! Hold out for at least four hours!"

Yu Xiaoqing glanced at the map; the terrain there was relatively narrow, making it an advantageous location for ambush.

Without the slightest hesitation, he stood at attention and saluted: "Rest assured, Commander! As long as one member of the Sichuan Army Corps remains, we will not let the Japanese devils cross a single step!"

Yu Xiaoqing led a Sichuan Army regiment of less than two thousand men and a reinforced battalion to the designated blocking position at top speed.

Before they could even construct complete fortifications, dust billowed across the horizon as the vanguard of the Japanese 13th Division—a reinforced regiment and four tanks—charged forward menacingly.

Yu Xiaoqing could only rely on the natural terrain to organize his defenses.

"Prepare for battle!" Yu Xiaoqing lay prone at the front of the position and calmly issued the order.

When the Japanese soldiers entered firing range, the Sichuan Army Corps unleashed all its firepower instantly.

Machine guns, rifles, and grenades rained down like a storm, and the Japanese soldiers charging ahead fell in droves.

But the Japanese tanks were unharmed, and under the supervision of the Japanese officers, the Japanese troops surged forward wave after wave like a tide.

The tanks roared to life, and the grenade launchers rained down on the defenders' positions.

In an instant, smoke and fire filled the air, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the battle was extremely fierce.

However, the soldiers of the Sichuan Army Corps, dressed in thin uniforms and carrying simple weapons, displayed astonishing courage and resilience.

The machine gunner was shot down, and the assistant gunner immediately took his place. When they ran out of ammunition, they raised their bayonets and leaped out of the trench. Some men, clutching cluster grenades and shouting the names of their hometowns, rolled under the tanks and perished with them...

In front of the position, the bodies of the Japanese soldiers were piled up like mountains, but the casualties of the defending troops were equally staggering.

The two sides fought a fierce battle on that small hill, pulling back and forth, each minute feeling like an eternity.

Yu Xiaoqing personally picked up a light machine gun and fired, completely unaware that his arm was being cut by shrapnel.

Three hours later, there were less than three hundred soldiers left standing around Yu Xiaoqing, and they were running out of ammunition.

The Japanese offensive showed no signs of abating, and their main forces continued to arrive.

"Commander! A telegram from the division headquarters! They're asking if we... if we can hold out any longer..." The communications soldier's voice choked with emotion.

"Tell the division commander... the Sichuan Army Corps... is still on the front lines!"