The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 371 Pride and Prejudice (Part 1) [Two-in-one chapter]

...I swear on my grandfather's honor that the Chinese soldiers were the best I had ever seen, without a doubt.

For a long time, we had the misconception that they were weak for many reasons.

For example, their terrible command system and the bald principal's haphazard command.

They were almost a generation behind, still using equipment and tactical thinking from World War I, which often led to their defeat by the Japanese despite having a numerical advantage.

However, I think the most crucial point is that they can't even afford to eat their fill...

Don't pay attention to the military ration standards issued by the Nationalist government; they are just castles in the air that can never be realized.

Based on my actual understanding, each soldier received only 187 grams of rice per day, with no meat, milk, or eggs, only some salted dried vegetables.

Furthermore, this rice often contained sand, gravel, rice husks, and even insect carcasses and livestock manure, which the soldiers jokingly called "eight-treasure rice"...

Even so, the Nationalist government, relying on such soldiers, managed to drag the war against a second-rate industrial nation into a stalemate.

I can't believe how strong they would become if they were given sufficient nutrition and taught more modern weapons and tactics...

...Special Report of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment by Major Bill Eulton, Special Military Observer stationed in China...

The next day, November 28th, a little after nine o'clock in the morning, in the Japanese temporary military camp at the foot of Gaofeng Pass.

With a 'smack', the highest-ranking officer in the Watanabe Regiment of the Taiwanese Mixed Brigade, the captain of the Second Battalion, Hirota Tomoto, was directly slapped to the ground by a large fist.

But the next second, the Japanese major ignored the fact that one side of his face was already swollen up and his mouth was full of blood.

He immediately got up from the ground, stood at an impeccable military posture, and loudly said "Hai!"

There was no other way! The Japanese side's actions were exactly as Hu Biao had predicted.
This morning, a new Japanese unit appeared at the foot of Gaofeng Pass and took over the Watanabe Regiment, which was no longer able to attack, to continue the operations against the Subei Independent Regiment.

And this newly arrived unit was indeed the Japanese Fifth Division.

To be more specific, this was the 11th Infantry Regiment and a part of the 5th Field Artillery Regiment, personally led by Major General Kawamoto Shichi, commander of the 9th Brigade under the 5th Division.

The force numbered approximately 4800 men, along with 6 mountain guns, 12 field guns, and 6 howitzers.

Therefore, the Japanese soldier who slapped Haotian's big lip was Major General Kawamoto Shichi.

Although he was not Kota's direct superior, as a major general in the elite Japanese forces, he had no problem picking up a battalion commander from a mixed brigade.

Another powerful blow landed, knocking the unfortunate Haotian Duoben down once more. Chuan Yuanqi then cursed:
"Useless! The invincible imperial army has been defeated like this by a bunch of rabble. You are a disgrace to the empire."

Now take your people and get out of here immediately, go to the outskirts of Nanning to rest.

"And keep your eyes peeled, and wait to see how our Fifth Division conquers Gaofeng Pass and captures Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai, alive."

Upon hearing this, Ikeda Tamoto felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately got up from the ground.

With the Watanabe Regiment, whose morale had been completely shattered, this remnant force of less than a thousand men hastily and in a very sorry state, amidst the utter contemptuous gazes of the entire 5th Division.

During this process, the Japanese soldiers who had formed a mixed brigade had very complex emotions.

There was definitely humiliation and anger, but along with it came an indescribable sense of relief—finally, I could leave this damned place.

As for Hu Biao and his Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, let those arrogant guys in the Fifth Division handle them.

The Japanese Major General Kawamoto Shichi didn't even glance at the scene of the Watanabe Regiment's remnants retreating.

Because all his energy at that moment was focused on the high pass position, which consisted of three hills, one large and two small, through the lens of his telescope.

After carefully examining the area, he had already come up with a plan in mind.

He then issued a series of orders: "Order the artillery units to conduct a 20-minute artillery barrage on the enemy positions in 5 minutes; at the same time, contact the air force units to maintain air suppression and deterrence against the enemy."

In addition, all personnel of the First Battalion were immediately given marching pills.

Once the shelling ends, send a company to launch a diversionary attack on the main position; send a company to each of the left and right flank hills, but they must be captured before nightfall.

As can be seen from the above orders, despite his impressive and powerful appearance, Chuan Yuanqi did not launch a large-scale, all-out attack immediately.

Instead, the approach is to first eliminate the positions on both flanks and then gradually compress the position.

He even had the soldiers take the so-called "marching pills" in advance, showing that he did not underestimate his opponent.

The reason for this is that the casualties suffered by Watanabe's team before were too frightening.

At the same time, while Chuan Yuanqi was observing the hilltop through binoculars, Hu Biao and others on the hilltop were also lying prone on the front line, observing the newly arrived Japanese soldiers from a distance.

These newly arrived Japanese soldiers, whose individual equipment was similar but whose spirit and morale were completely different, seemed to have the word 'elite' written all over their faces.

Old K couldn't help but mutter, "You damn bastard! Your mouth must be blessed."

"They said the 5th Division would come today, and sure enough, they did; this is the infamous 'Steel Army' of the Japanese, can we hold them off?"

Just from the fact that Old K has changed his way of addressing Hu Biao from "Old Hu" to "Deadbeat," it's clear that this novice transmigrator has made astonishing progress in just a few days of fighting.

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao laughed speechlessly.

It's not that he's speechless about Old K calling him "Deadbeat"; there are plenty of guys who call him that, so he doesn't care about a few more.

He was speechless, wondering if this novice could hold out at the peak pass.

This question? It's unnecessary.

If it were yesterday during the day, facing a situation of isolation and helplessness, he might have lacked some confidence; but since receiving several pieces of good news last night, everything is different.

It's a pity he didn't have a chance to properly analyze the advantages his team possessed with the newbies like Old K.

Suddenly, the sound of artillery shells piercing the sky and heading towards it rang out.

Based on his extensive experience of being bombarded by Japanese artillery, he could even distinguish the guns among the various types of artillery, in addition to the Type 41 75mm mountain gun and the Type 94 75mm field gun.

They even had the Type 96 150mm howitzer, a heavy artillery piece that was rare even among the Japanese.

"As expected of the Japanese army, even before the middle of World War II, when it was reorganized into a mechanized unit, it was much more generous than other units."

After muttering this complaint under his breath, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Leave one platoon to guard the position, and the rest of you immediately retreat to the reverse slope position."

Thus, with the Japanese artillery firing at full force, the battle between the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and the Fifth Division officially began.

Both are renowned elite units on both sides, and their clash is destined to be an exceptionally fierce and brutal battle.

With the addition of air support, the 5th Division held an absolute advantage in firepower, equipment, and manpower.

After the Subei Independent Regiment received 187 reinforcements from our Party last night, the fighting force on the Gaofeng'ai position group finally reached 1153 men.

Furthermore, they received a portion of manpower replenishment every day thereafter, which meant they were able to receive a continuous supply of manpower.

In terms of weapons and ammunition, at least for now, there is still a relatively sufficient supply, which can be considered a geographical advantage.

Therefore, both Hu Biao and Chuan Yuanqi, the two commanders on both sides, had strong confidence in winning this battle.

As for the specific process and final result of this contest between the two sides, let's take a different perspective.

They arrived at Gaofeng Pass around midnight. We can glean some insights from the private notes and reports of two military observers, one from the US and the other from Russia…

******
First, let's turn our attention to Bill Eulton, the major from Uncle Sam's family.

On Tuesday, November 28, 1939, I wasn't sure about the weather; it might have been sunny, or it might have been cloudy or overcast, but in any case, it didn't rain.

I say this not because I can't even tell the most basic weather conditions.

There were two key reasons. The first was to prevent Japanese planes from circling over the positions throughout the day, so that bombing and reconnaissance could be carried out more accurately.

From dawn until dusk, for almost the entire day, Hu and his companions kept a large number of bonfires lit.

The thick smoke from the bonfire obscured the entire sky, making it impossible for me to determine whether the sun was even present.

The second issue is that the fighting between the two sides during the daytime was excessively intense.

Although I wasn't directly involved, it still kept me highly focused and tense, leaving me with very little energy to pay attention to the weather.

Alright! Let the damn weather go to hell for now, let me get back to the main topic.

Thanks to Harrison Forman, the renowned war correspondent based in China.

He published several interviews with Hu Biao and his partners in the New York Times and Life Magazine, which caused quite a stir in Uncle Sam's household.

Therefore, I have always maintained a great interest in Hu Biao and his Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

To be honest, I was very disappointed when I first saw the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

Hu Biao and his companions did not disappoint; even dressed in the most ordinary civilian clothes, they still looked quite impressive.

The key is that they possess a strong sense of self-confidence, unlike other Chinese people who often feel a strong sense of inferiority when facing foreigners.

I could even sense that they were looking down on me in a strange way.

It's like when we see those black men running around naked on the mainland in our normal lives, it's really unbelievable!
What disappointed me was that their troops were less like an army and more like a group of armed beggars, and the kind with extremely poor equipment at that.

They were all quite short, and almost every one of them showed obvious signs of malnutrition.

Their ages ranged greatly; the oldest looked at least seventy, while the youngest claimed to be 14, yet he didn't look as tall as our fifth-grade students.

They did not have a uniform, except for a small number of people who wore different homespun uniforms.

The vast majority of the remaining people were wearing patched long gowns or short gowns; most wore straw sandals, and a considerable number were barefoot.

It's unimaginable what they would do if their feet were cut during the battle.
In comparison, the homeless people on the streets of New York are much more presentable.

The weapons they carried were a motley collection. After wandering around the position for a short while, I saw a variety of weapons from more than a dozen countries, including Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Switzerland, Denmark, and Spain, with a wide range of calibers.

Even within the category of rifles alone, there are several different calibers.

If I were their logistics officer, I think I would go crazy just trying to replenish and distribute the appropriate ammunition to them.

They had no artillery, nor any anti-aircraft guns.
All the anti-aircraft firepower consisted of multiple anti-aircraft machine guns of different calibers, as well as heavy machine guns mounted on wooden frames that could fire into the air.

No! They actually had two 70mm cannons, which they captured from the Japanese.

However, the number of shells was limited, and it was said that Hu Biao and his comrades needed to approve each firing.

In short, after witnessing all these appalling circumstances, I have lost all hope for the fighting capacity of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

After all, how powerful could such a beggar-like army be?

As for Harrison Forman, all those reports of brilliant victories? Damn it! This guy must have made it all up to grab attention; he's fooled all the Westerners.

For the reasons mentioned above, after the daytime battle began, I focused all my attention on the Japanese Fifth Division.

This is another task I have undertaken since I came here.

Although to Uncle Sam's family, the Japanese were merely a second-rate industrialized nation; it was only in the backward East that they could appear so powerful.

However, considering the potential danger of future conflict and war between us and the East due to its interests, we still need to observe their actual combat capabilities up close.

Especially the 5th Division, an elite force known as the "Steel Army"...

Once the battle began, I was quickly impressed by the formidable individual combat skills of the Japanese 5th Division soldiers, who were also short in stature.

Indeed! As a second-rate industrialized country, their equipment is really not very good compared to the West.

Apart from a few slow-firing light and heavy machine guns that provided them with suppressive fire, individual soldiers had no automatic or semi-automatic weapons whatsoever.

But they were excellent marksmen; I've seen it more than once.

At distances exceeding 200 meters, as long as the soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment were exposed for an extended period, the Japanese soldiers, using bolt-action rifles with bayonets attached that were taller than the soldiers themselves, achieved a hit rate exceeding 80%.

They were very skilled at bayonet fighting; their movements were simple yet extremely deadly.

Their weapon, called a grenade launcher, is very agile and accurate.

Their squads had excellent tactical coordination, and some of the non-commissioned officers had good combat experience and were fully capable of serving as qualified junior officers.

However, what is most commendable is their strong fighting spirit.

Under orders from their officers, they launched attack on the positions time and again, ignoring their own heavy casualties.
Even when some wounded soldiers were surrounded during the retreat, none of them surrendered; instead, they detonated grenades and charged at their opponents.

In short, even though there are some things I really don't understand.

These Japanese soldiers had clearly shown the utmost courage in the battle and done everything they could.

If they surrendered at this point, even the most demanding commander could not find fault with them for choosing to die in a suicidal manner.

I was still impressed by these Japanese soldiers and thought they were among the best soldiers in the world.

In this situation, I suddenly realized something:
No! Those Chinese soldiers in the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment were the best soldiers in the world, without exception.

Despite being completely outmatched in firepower, equipment, and manpower, they did manage to repel the Japanese attacks repeatedly, inflicting several times the casualties on the Japanese.

It's true that none of the Japanese soldiers wanted to surrender, but throughout the entire process, did any of them actually surrender?

In order to reduce the threat from the air, they almost always allowed the Japanese attacking troops to get extremely close to the position before launching an attack.

By Jesus! Nobody will know.

The shock I felt when I saw a boy who was no more than 17 years old, crying loudly as he rushed towards the Japanese soldiers with a bundle of grenades in his arms.

Because I could clearly see the fear in his eyes, as well as his reluctance and attachment to life, but he still did it.

When that battle ended, I asked my translator, Shen, and learned that the boy had been calling out "Mom." My soul trembled.

Therefore, my advice is to put aside our arrogance and prejudice and never start a war with the Chinese.

Especially when the Chinese people, who are well-fed and whose weaponry is not significantly inferior, engage in war, there is a power in their blood that is usually deeply suppressed, but once it erupts, it is unimaginable...

(End of this chapter)