The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 372 Pride and Prejudice (Part Two) [Bonus Chapter 3350 for the Emergence of a Color Photographer]

At the same time, Bill Eulton, a major soldier, was recording some of his observations from the day in his notebook.

Right next to him, in another bunker of roughly the same size, his colleague, the Russian military observer, was doing the same thing.

Under the dim light of a kerosene lamp, we summarized some recent events.

Something that left him unable to calm his emotions for a long time...

You can call me Andrei; as for my full name, you probably don't want to know.

Even if you want to know, I won't tell you; because I don't want to spend half an hour reciting a string of full names that no one is destined to remember.

Okay! Let's get straight to the point.

Upon receiving orders from superiors, they were first urgently transported by plane to Guilin, and then continued to change to cars and warhorses to reach a place called Gaofeng Pass outside Nanning.

When I closely observed Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment fighting against the Japanese, I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

There are two reasons why I'm so averse to this.

Firstly, I had no intention of leaving Shuangqing City to go to a remote battlefield I had never heard of before, but which was sure to be extremely harsh.

I am a Russian military attaché stationed in China.

The best thing about Shuangqing City is that you can drink as much or as little as you want.

You should know! If I continue to stay in the country, according to the two alcohol bans issued by the People's Commissariat of National Defense in the past two years, I will be subject to the following regulations.

Russian soldiers are prohibited from drinking alcohol except on leave.

Such an order would be a catastrophic consequence for a Russian; the whole world would lose its color and turn gray.

But everything changed when they arrived in Shuangqing City.

This place offers an amazing variety of baijiu (Chinese white liquor), a unique Chinese beverage that might take some getting used to if you're trying it for the first time.
But once you get used to them, they are absolutely invaluable treasures.

The thought of not being able to drink for a long time makes me feel terrible.

Secondly, what's so interesting about the Chinese army's combat? Do they even have any qualified officers who understand modern warfare?
Even though Hu Biao was quite famous throughout the West, his command skills were probably quite limited.

In their words, how did they say it again? Right! It's called "choosing the tallest among the short," or "when the cat's away, the mice will play," or "when the cat's away, the mice will play."

Because their best military academy, the Whampoa Military Academy, could not have been established without the substantial financial support and direct dispatch of numerous instructors from our Russian family.

Many of our Party's generals also graduated from our Russian Frunze Military Academy.

Therefore, I really don't think that countries with such military theories and levels that are still stuck in the era of World War I have any combat experience that is worth learning from for us Russians.

Unfortunately, under Chikov's strict orders, I had to board a plane and depart overnight.

After boarding the plane, I discovered that there was also a major from Uncle Sam's family, who was on the same mission as me.

For some reason, I instinctively disliked Uncle Sam's family, and my mood immediately worsened...

After a difficult journey, even when I arrived at Gaofeng Pass, I didn't pay much attention to the battle that had broken out between the two sides.

Even though the Japanese troops were the so-called "Steel Army," the 5th Division, which was their most elite unit,
Even during the Russo-Japanese War more than 30 years ago, this army participated in the battles of Liaoyang, Shahe, and Fengtian, and inflicted heavy losses on the Tsarist Russian army in these battles.

But so what? That's all history now.

On the contrary, just this May, the great Marshal Zhukov taught these arrogant little dwarfs a harsh lesson with his steel torrent at Nomonhan.

The troops that the Japanese deployed at that time were the Kwantung Army, known as the "flower of the army," and were also among their elite forces.

However, as the battle progressed, I gradually became interested and even shocked; I realized how ridiculous my ideas were because of some inherent arrogance and prejudice.

Unlike Major Bill Eulton, that country bumpkin from Uncle Sam's house, who was shocked by the individual quality of the Japanese soldiers for a long time.

I was not at all surprised by the Japanese soldiers' behavior. I had already seen descriptions of it in some internal documents after the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

The Japanese soldiers were indeed highly skilled individually and their fighting courage was commendable, but under the steel torrent of mechanized troops, such individual bravery was meaningless.

What truly amazed me was the Independent Regiment from Northern Jiangsu, which can be broadly divided into two aspects.

On the one hand, their junior officers were far less incompetent than I had anticipated.

For example, there was a second lieutenant named Chung Shih-tao, who was said to have come from the most elite training corps of the National Revolutionary Army; the company he led put up a textbook example of standard defense.

It was so stunning that I couldn't help but be amazed.

There was also a lieutenant named Tan Li, who came from the Marine Corps. He and his men fought very bravely, which reminded me of our sailors.

Similarly, after landing, they displayed even greater combat power than the initial guerrillas.

On the other hand, there was Hu Biao and his partners, who, I must say, brought me even more shock and even touched me.

First of all, their method of lighting fires and raising black smoke for air defense is not very effective against us Russians.

Because we have enough planes and anti-aircraft guns to protect our skies, such a terrible situation will never occur.

But their method of building positions on the reverse slope was far too clever.

Despite the fact that the Japanese used heavy artillery, including 150mm caliber guns, and poured a large number of shells onto the battlefield, the results of each bombardment were often only in the single digits.

Because when facing artillery fire, only a small number of personnel were left on the position.

The main force of the troops had long since retreated to the reverse slope positions behind the hill; the shells fired by the Japanese could not fly over the hill and reach the troops behind.

Cannons are the god of war, and one of the biggest culprits causing casualties in war.

It is absolutely essential for our Russian family to learn this kind of reverse slope construction. Just this one experience alone is enough to make this trip worthwhile.

Secondly, after setting aside their arrogance and prejudice, they carefully observed the positions established by Hu Biao and his partners.

Beneath the surface of disorder, there is a great deal of information worth discussing.

Anyway, compared to our positions, they are at least twenty years more advanced.

Finally, this method, which allows for a continuous supply of reinforcements from the rear and a protracted, bloody tug-of-war with the opponent, is also of great reference value.

Although I don't believe anyone could bring the powerful Russians down to this level.

In short, although Hu Biao and his companions had never studied at any military academy, they were undoubtedly geniuses.

They learned and grew during the war, eventually gaining amazing practical experience and command abilities.

Their command, though perhaps lacking in aesthetic appeal, has surprisingly effective results...

Andrei did not fully finish his summary of watching the game all day.

The reason for this was that while he was pondering and summarizing, Annie had already appeared outside the bunker, speaking fluent Russian:
"Major Andrei, come out for dinner!"

You're in luck today. Besides bringing steaming hot local food, the villagers have also brought some famous Guangxi briefcases. You can enjoy a drink to your heart's content.

The words "drink it well" immediately made Andrei unable to continue his summary.

I instinctively asked a series of questions: "Is Guangxi briefcase liquor? What kind of liquor is it? What is its alcohol content? Is it good?"

Faced with this series of questions, Annie realized that the term "Guangxi briefcase" was far from being coined in those days.

But it didn't matter, she answered with unusual certainty: "Of course it's alcohol, it tastes amazing, I don't know how much alcohol it has, but I heard it doesn't make you drunk at all."

"Great! This way I can drink more," Andrei said with delight...

(End of this chapter)