Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

At Fujin Mountain, flares were fired into the sky, illuminating the entire battlefield as if it were daytime. The Japanese soldiers were so blinded that they experienced temporary blindness.

The division's artillery battalion's eight 75mm mountain guns opened fire on the Japanese soldiers, sending plumes of flame into the air. Each volley of shells took away many Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese troops were thrown into disarray by the sudden attack. At this critical moment, artillery shells came from both flanks. These were six 20mm mortars directly under each regiment. Although the number was small, the chaos they caused was deadly.

The Japanese officer screamed in terror:

"Baka yarou, there's an ambush!"

"Enemy attack! Don't run around! Hold the line!"

"You idiot, coward, die!"

Officers and non-commissioned officers at all levels were doing their best to quell the chaos. The 362nd and 363rd Regiments on both flanks launched an attack, like two sharp ox-horn knives stabbing into the waist of the Japanese soldiers.

Bugles sounded one after another, and shouts of battle shook the heavens. More than 4,000 fresh troops from two regiments attacked from both sides. At the same time, the soldiers of the 361st Regiment on the front also rushed out of the trenches and looked down at the Japanese from the high ground.

Attacked from three sides, bullets rained down, the air was thick with fear, and the Japanese troops could only hold out for a dozen minutes before collapsing completely and fleeing eastward like a tidal wave.

Those officers who tried to suppress the rebellion were either overwhelmed by the fleeing soldiers or went with the flow, competing to see who could run the fastest.

Several thousand Japanese soldiers from the two regiments were crammed together, and countless people were killed in the pushing, shoving, and trampling.

The defeat was swift and devastating, and the Japanese were no exception. The 16th Division, mainly composed of new recruits, was particularly badly beaten, with some soldiers even stabbing each other in the back to save their lives.

The 362nd and 363rd Regiments attacked very quickly, arriving before the Japanese could retreat, like two pincers cutting the Japanese army formation in half.

The soldiers of the two regiments detached some to continue pursuing the Japanese, while the remaining main force, together with the 361st Regiment, encircled and annihilated the remaining enemy forces that had been cut down.

At this point, the routed Japanese soldiers no longer cared about anyone else; they only hoped to escape. They even wished that the pursuing troops would stop and wipe out the surrounded Japanese soldiers.

Zhong Song was very pragmatic. He did not intend to annihilate the two invading regiments, but only sought to destroy a portion of them and restore the position.

The objective had been achieved. The pursuing troops drove the fleeing soldiers several miles away, while the main force left behind to mop up the remaining enemy easily annihilated the Japanese soldiers within the encirclement.

The change came too quickly. The Japanese soldiers on the left and right flanks were unaware of what had happened. Considering the commotion in the center, the Japanese soldiers, for safety reasons, proactively disengaged from the engagement.

The 88th Division on the right flank fared well; they did not launch a counterattack but simply held their ground.

The 323rd Division on the left was different. Zhao Yunwen had never been an easy person to talk to, so they took advantage of his weakness to kill him.

He had long guessed the 61st Division's tactical intentions, so he also assembled the main forces of the 645th and 646th Regiments. When the Japanese retreated, the mountain artillery group on Hill 203 suddenly opened fire on the Japanese. The shells exploded behind the Japanese, scaring them into fleeing in panic.

The stern bugle call sounded just in time, and more than 4,000 soldiers from two regiments charged out from the west and north, relentlessly pursuing and attacking the Japanese.

The artillery barrage continued to bombard the Japanese deep within their lines, with shells even landing around the brigade headquarters. This reminded the old Japanese soldier of Major General Yamada's tragic fate, and he stopped being stubborn and ran away.

The 13th Division was defeated again, but it was quick to retreat, abandoning its armor and weapons. It lost a lot of equipment and supplies, but its casualties were not great.

The 645th and 646th Regiments pursued the enemy relentlessly, and this time they did not stop while they were ahead, until they drove the Japanese down the Shi River.

At this point, the pursuers were actually quite far away, but the Japanese soldiers were afraid and couldn't stop. Although there was a pontoon bridge over the river, many of them were pushed and shoved into the river and swept away.

At dawn, as the sky began to lighten, the 645th Regiment captured the Japanese brigade headquarters. By then, the Japanese had already fled east of the Shi River, leaving behind a large amount of supplies, wounded soldiers, and heavy equipment.

Regiment Commander Li Xikai of the 645th Regiment shouted excitedly:

"Brothers, get to it quickly, it's almost dawn. Treat all the wounded, and take the equipment and supplies with you."

"Commander, so many cannons! So many shells!"

"Food! Canned beef!"

"Commander, there's medicine here, and even some Japanese women!"

Li Xikai cursed loudly, his face dark:

"Stop yelling nonsense! Where did these Japanese women come from? They're all Japanese! Kill them all! Do I need to teach you a second time?!"

Whether they were wounded soldiers or Japanese medics, in Li Xikai's eyes they were all Japanese. Since they were Japanese, he would eliminate them all without leaving a trace.

Under the decisive command of Regiment Commander Li, the 645th Regiment acted quickly, and by the time the 646th Regiment arrived, they had already finished all the dirty and tiring work.

In this counterattack, Li Xikai personally led the team, bringing the main force with him, except for leaving one battalion to guard the mountain artillery battalion. The results were brilliant.

The 646th Regiment also deployed its main force, and the newly formed supplementary regiment also went to the battlefield, mainly to let them experience the atmosphere.

Some of the supplementary regiments were Northwest Army soldiers who had been on the battlefield, while the three thousand Guangxi Army soldiers were all reserves who had only received a few months of basic training and had never seen blood.

The battle was won easily, and Zhao Yunwen planned to have them clean up the battlefield, finish off the Japanese soldiers, and let them see the dead.

In the direction of Fujinshan, the victorious 61st Division was also cleaning up the battlefield, but they hadn't pursued the enemy far enough, so they didn't capture any Japanese regimental artillery.

As the sun rose in the east, the chief of staff of the 61st Division excitedly reported to Zhong Song:

"Commander, we have found more than 2,000 Japanese corpses, some of which were left by the Japanese during the day. It is estimated that we killed more than 1,000 enemies in the night counterattack. We have captured two Type 92 infantry guns, four heavy machine guns, nine light machine guns, more than 1100 rifles, and ammunition and supplies are piled up like mountains. The position has also been successfully restored."

Zhong Song had not expected the results to be so brilliant. If it had just been a simple counterattack to retake the position, not only would the casualties have been much greater, but there would not have been so many spoils of war.

Zhong Song knew that this counterattack wouldn't change anything; the real battle was yet to come. Therefore, he didn't show much excitement, but instead suppressed his smile and said:

"Before the Japanese soldiers could recover, we carried away all the spoils of war and abandoned the corpses on the spot."

All our wounded brothers were evacuated, and their remains were collected and buried in a place with good feng shui.

After daybreak, send someone to inform the Japanese that I have shown them mercy and allowed them to collect the bodies, and that both sides will cease fire for one day.

Chung Chung wasn't acting out of kindness; rather, he felt that having two or three thousand corpses spread out on the hillside for an extended period could easily lead to infectious diseases.

We can also get a one-day ceasefire, let the Japanese collect the corpses, and also damage their morale—a win-win situation.

At the 13th Division headquarters, Ogisu Rippei could no longer suppress his fiery temper and berated several regimental commanders mercilessly, including Numata Tokushige.

"You bastards! You've disgraced the Imperial Army! How can I face His Highness the Prince like this?!"

"Defeat after defeat, even being driven across the river by the Chinese, do you still look like soldiers of the Empire?"

"You bastards! Are you all mute? Have you tallied up the battle losses yet? Report the truth, no hiding anything!"

Chief of Staff Yusaburo Tsukuda hurriedly picked up his notebook and reported:

"588 people were killed, 121 were seriously wounded, and 8 75mm mountain guns, 6 infantry guns, 4 90mm mortars, and thousands of shells were lost, including more than 1,000 special shells."

The losses included 22 heavy machine guns, 57 light machine guns, 62 ammunition magazines, and over 600 rifles. The field hospital also failed to cross the river. The more than 200 wounded soldiers and over 100 medical personnel treated there likely died for His Majesty. In addition, a large amount of ammunition and supplies were lost.

"Damn it, this is a crime! Giving so much equipment and supplies to the Chinese will definitely greatly enhance the strength of the Tiger Army. That's how they got their Japanese weapons."

We used to criticize others, now it's our turn. This is a disgrace to the 13th Division!

Major General Numata, his face dark with anger, volunteered for the mission:

"Ogisu-kun, please give me another chance. Once we cross the river, we must have the 323rd Division wiped out."

Ogishu Rippei is now worried about how to explain to Prince Renyan. He can afford the loss of a few hundred men, but the repeated defeats are unbearable for anyone.

Major General Numata was clearly in a fit of anger, and it is a major taboo in military strategy to raise troops in anger, so as the division commander, he had to remain calm.

Thinking of this, he suppressed his anger and said:

"Numata-kun, I understand how you feel. The 13th Division has never fought such a humiliating battle before. This time, it was mainly due to the involvement of the 16th Division."

"Don't rush into an attack; let's figure out the situation first."

Chief of Staff Yuzaburo Tsukuda was the first to agree, volunteering:

"I'll go and urge them again; shirking responsibility won't solve the problem."

Before he could leave, the division's communications staff officer rushed over and loudly reported:

"Your Excellency Division Commander, a telegram from the 16th Division!"

After reading the telegram, Tsukuda Isaburo said:

"As expected, the responsibility lies with the 16th Division. They were routed by the Chinese, suffering over a thousand casualties, which triggered a chain reaction."

"You bunch of trash, you bastards!"