Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 126: The Rookie Marines

As the tanks were destroyed, the remaining suicide squads were shot one by one, and the Japanese attack was crushed again, leaving behind corpses and tank wreckage on the ground;
Saito's face turned extremely ugly. He thought it would be an easy battle, just picking up attack honors, but he ended up hitting a wall.

Captains Okazaki and Hoshino were also full of frustration, like defeated roosters. As the commander of the front line, Saito knew that he could not be depressed any longer, and then he shouted coldly:
"Gentlemen, look at your current state of disgrace. Are you still brave and courageous officers of the Empire?

There will be no war without tanks?

The Commander is watching you all!"

Major Okazaki felt that his samurai dignity was insulted, and he stood up and said:

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, please allow me to lead the death squad to blow up the headquarters building. The imperial warriors would rather die on the way to charge and wash away the shame with their blood."

Majors Watanabe and Hoshino also stood up and expressed their willingness to win back their dignity with blood;
It is true that it is better to provoke the generals than to invite them. These grassroots officers who were severely brainwashed by Bushido exploded at the slightest provocation, and they shouted that they wanted to fight the Chinese to the death. This was exactly the effect Saito wanted. Seeing that the morale could be used, he made up his mind and said loudly:
"I am very pleased that you are so determined. Let's launch a large-scale attack and never withdraw until the headquarters building is destroyed!"

Everyone stood up and shouted "Go Emperor!" and "Go Marines!" The morale was quickly boosted, as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Saito immediately issued an attack order and coordinated with the headquarters to call for a round of naval artillery support. Rows of naval artillery shells whizzed in from the Huangpu River and slammed heavily into the headquarters building. The ruins on the roof were almost turned into ruins, which was a horrible sight.

Since there were only small and medium-sized ships docked on the river, their main guns had a caliber of less than 140 mm and had limited power. They could not destroy the overall structure of the headquarters building and did not cause any actual damage to the first battalion hidden on the second floor. At most, their heads would just feel buzzing.

The headquarters building is a permanent fortress complex that the Marine Corps spent more than ten years to build. It has been reinforced several times during this period. It is difficult to destroy it even with a 140mm main gun and a 203mm heavy howitzer. It can only be destroyed by blasting and using a large amount of explosives.

Lieutenant Colonel Saito had the idea of ​​taking a gamble once he entered the casino, and after losing a few times, he bet everything.

As soon as the artillery preparation was over, the infantry launched a fierce attack. Although the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps was far lower than that of the Army, they rushed towards the headquarters building in rows under the stimulation of the Bushido spirit;

Among them were many suicide squads who carried a large number of high-explosive bombs in an attempt to blow up the gate.

Seeing that the Japanese had made a big bet, Li Jie no longer concealed his strength. He opened fire in the building, with hundreds of machine guns and rifles sticking out from the firing ports, pouring bullets on the Japanese, knocking them to the ground row by row.
The Japanese were not intimidated. They also organized powerful firepower to fire at the defenders. The defenders were shot and fell continuously, and casualties rose sharply.

The Japs' attacks came wave after wave. When one group was knocked down, another group rushed up, not taking death seriously at all.

The barrels of many machine guns in the building were red. When the Japanese troops approached the wall, grenades rained down from the upper floors. Some soldiers threw four or five grenades in one breath.

Some even ignited the explosive packs of the flying thunder cannon and threw them directly down, causing the Japanese to howl in pain and their bodies to be scattered all over the ground, as disgusting as a pile of cow dung.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Major Okazaki was like a gambler who had lost all his money. He kept driving his soldiers to charge the building and would not give up until he lost his last pair of pants. At this moment, a loud military call sounded behind them. Duan Yulin saw that the Japanese had bet all their chips, so he decisively launched a counterattack.
He concentrated more than a dozen mortars from two companies and bombarded the attacking Japanese troops. Rows of shells fell into the enemy group, causing a bloody storm in the sky.

The morale of the Japs had dropped to freezing point. They didn't know how many Chinese were behind them, but judging from the noise, there were at least thousands of them, or even tens of thousands.

Faced with the Chinese attack from both sides, the Japanese were in a state of panic, seeing enemies everywhere, and they could not help but collapse;

The defeat was like a landslide, and the mood of failure spread quickly like a plague, eventually turning into a total rout. The Japanese, who suffered heavy losses, finally gave up.

The first and third companies launched a fierce counterattack from behind the enemy, while the second company on the flank also sounded the charge. They chased the enemy and beat them hard, killing them and making them completely defeated...

"Baka, they have brought shame upon the Marine Corps—"

"Mr. Chief of Staff, the Chinese are chasing us, run!"

A communications staff officer waved his hand, and two big Japanese guards, each holding Saito by one arm, ran towards the dock, where the First Battalion was used as a reserve force, as well as a large number of warships that could save their lives.

The counterattack of the first battalion was very sharp. They chased the fleeing Japanese soldiers towards the dock like rabbits. Anyone with short legs became their dead souls under their guns. It was as easy as participating in a hunting feast.

"Bakayaloo, these rubbish, the scum of the empire - maggots!
They have brought shame upon the Imperial Army. Fire and blow them to death!"

On the warship, Major General Iida was so angry that smoke came out of his nostrils. He just wanted to use indiscriminate artillery fire to kill all the fleeing soldiers and Chinese who had embarrassed him so much that he wouldn't have to see them and be bothered by them.

However, it would take time for the Japanese naval guns to react, and Duan Yulin was also on guard against this move by the Japanese. After chasing for a distance, he ordered his troops to stop and quickly evacuate. By the time the Japanese naval gun shells fell, they had already run far away.

The Japanese's retaliatory bombardment did not achieve any real effect. It only made the ruins of the street block even more horrible. The casualties caused to the counterattack troops did not exceed double digits. It was all due to luck.

After the enemy's artillery fire stopped, the soldiers of the first battalion began to clean up the battlefield. They were now fighting in the enemy-occupied area, and all their supplies were captured, so every grain of rice was stored in the warehouse;
The Marines are considered the richest among the Japanese. Not only are their equipment better than the Army, but the supplies they carry are also much more abundant.

Because the Japanese were suddenly defeated by Duan Yulin's counterattack, they did not take away any heavy equipment, and the mules, horses, supplies, and ammunition piled up like a mountain, and now all of them were taken away by the first battalion;
After the results of the battle were counted, they were all reported to the battalion headquarters. Li Jie was extremely excited after listening to it. They had killed more than 300 Japanese soldiers, seized 75 4mm mountain cannons, 37 3mm rapid-fire cannons, more than 50 submachine guns, and more than 300 long and short guns. All kinds of supplies were piled up into small hills. Now the battalion had no shortage of supplies for long-term combat.

After hurting the Marines, it was the turn of the Japanese Army next. Li Jie was not worried but full of anticipation. He just didn't know which division the Japanese were from.

"I'm really looking forward to it! Don't let me down."

Li Jie rarely showed off.

(End of this chapter)