The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 430 One Runs, One Chases (Two Chapters Combined)

Time: 3:29 PM, not far from the township office of Dadong Township.

Amidst the deafening gunfire and shouts of battle, Seiichi Kuno, the lieutenant general and commander of the Japanese 18th Division, who was usually meticulous in his attire and demeanor and had the air of a tough soldier, stood out.

At this moment, however, his head was drooping, his back was slightly hunched and his waist was bent, and his legs were quite weak.

From a distance, it looks like a stray dog ​​with its spine broken, completely devoid of its former arrogant spirit.

If you get closer, you can even see the expression on this guy's face; it's not anger or resentment.

Rather, it was a strong sense of disbelief, or perhaps bewilderment.

So what? This Japanese devil, Kuno Seiichi, is in such a dire situation, what is he still confused about?

In this regard, it can only be said that he is still quite confused about many things.

For example, if someone had told him before that the Chinese army could wipe out his 18th Division in half an hour, Kuno Seiichi would have thought they were joking.

It's still the funniest, most impossible joke in the world.

Ironically, only 29 minutes have passed since the Nationalist army began its initial shelling, less than half an hour has gone by.

His forces were said to be comparable to the 18th Division, a Class A division.

However, the opponent's crazy assault tactics directly divided them into a dozen or so battle groups of varying sizes, each fighting its own battle.

Although all the battle groups combined, they should still have more than 7,000 combat personnel.

It was obvious to anyone that it was only a matter of time before these battle groups were annihilated one by one by the Nationalist army with its superior manpower and firepower.

Even if a god came, there would be no way for the 18th Division to turn the tide of battle.

Why did things develop to this point? What's wrong with this world? This was the first thing that left Seiichi Kuno bewildered.

The second thing that left Kuno Seiichi bewildered was the current state of the soldiers on both sides, which felt so unfamiliar to him that he almost didn't recognize them.

He once had a large battalion of soldiers who dared to confront and pursue an entire division of the Nationalist army.

A single regiment of soldiers dared to confront and hunt down an entire corps of Imperial warriors, yet now, even under the influence of marching pills, why are their faces filled with fear and panic?

Why do these Nationalist troops, who in previous battles were often faster than rabbits, possess such astonishing fighting courage?
In short, at this moment, Kuno Seiichi was in such an unprecedented predicament that he was driven to the point of questioning his existence.

This situation only came to a head when the equally panicked adjutant rushed over and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, the division commander has just received a telegram from the Weizhou Island airport."

They said it would take half an hour to repair the airport runway; by the time the planes took off and arrived over the battlefield, it would be at least an hour.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

Towards the end, the Japanese adjutant was so terrified that he almost cried out.

However, despite such devastating news, Seiichi Kuno rallied somewhat, or rather, after accepting the cruel reality he had been unable to acknowledge, and his performance improved.

He replied with a wry smile, "What else can we do? Accept reality. The 18th Division will be annihilated today."

First, send a farewell telegram to headquarters, reminding them to be wary of the Nationalist army, especially Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, and not to suffer such heavy losses again with their "encirclement and suppression" tactics.

Then start burning the regimental flag, codebooks, and classified documents; they absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the enemy.

After all this is done, all troops should break out towards the southern pass on their own. Hopefully, we still have control there, and some can escape.

Even if only a company or a platoon managed to escape, the Reich could refuse to acknowledge that the 18th Division had been completely annihilated.

After explaining the above, Kuno Seiichi ignored his adjutant's utterly desperate expression and began to attend to his own affairs.

What are we busy with? Of course, we're busy with the preparations for the cesarean section.

He knew he had already lost enough face today. If he were to be captured by the Nationalist army like the brigade commander of the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade, he would have no honor or face left.

With that in mind, he used clean water and a clean white towel to begin wiping his precious military knife.

The whole process was incredibly solemn and serious, even more so than when he treated his wife.

This military knife was a gift from the Emperor to him when he graduated with "excellent" grades from the 26th class of the Army University and entered the "Military Knife Group" of that class.

However, judging from today's events, this precious item of his will likely become a prize of war for some Nationalist general, or perhaps Hu Biao...

******
About ten minutes later, when he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, Hu Biao became instantly excited, as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Because he saw a group of Japanese officers gathered more than a hundred meters away, and they were hurriedly burning something. He could see a large plume of smoke rising from a distance, and it looked like there was a big fish there.

Immediately, Hu Biao picked up the phone that had been added to the rear of the tank and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Hey, tell the boss lady right now, what don't you recognize? It's Chief of Staff An, the old lady who drives the tank."

"Immediately tell her that there's a group of Japanese officers gathered about 100 meters away in the current 3:30 direction. There should be a big fish there. Rush over there!"

Upon hearing that there should be a big fish, Annie immediately steered the tank in the direction Hu Biao had indicated.

I wish I could stomp on the gas pedal and put my feet into the gas tank.

The two tanks, about twenty cavalrymen, a modified truck, and about three hundred infantrymen who had been following them naturally followed suit.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned troops are not the assault team that has been replenished; now only these few pieces of equipment and personnel remain.

Their initial assault today was quite difficult.

After successfully breaking through the Japanese tortoise formation for the first time, their fighting spirit noticeably declined, making subsequent assaults and encirclement operations much easier.

Naturally, the combat losses were far less alarming than before.

The equipment and personnel following Hu Biao's actions are so few now, simply because they have split into more teams to launch attacks in various places.

The key point is that such a force is enough for them to run rampant on the current battlefield.

Sure enough! As Hu Biao and his men charged forward, the Japanese soldiers blocking their way, despite their desperate attempts to stop them, were all knocked to the ground by the intense firepower.

Before long, they were less than fifty meters away from the group of Japanese officers who were burning something.

It was at this moment that Annie's tank suddenly stopped, allowing the tank crew to quickly fire a shell in that direction.

The shell hit its mark quite accurately, landing right next to the group of officers.

Instantly, amidst the flying shrapnel, six or seven Japanese officers were felled on the spot, while the remaining officers, like frightened rabbits, took off running in all directions.

Hu Biao originally wanted to shout, "Split up and chase them, don't let any of them escape!"

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly noticed a shirtless middle-aged Japanese soldier kneeling behind the group of Japanese officers.

The Japanese soldier was holding a gleaming samurai sword and carefully wiping it.

Just then, the other person also looked in Hu Biao's direction, and their eyes met.

Even though the middle-aged Japanese soldier was shirtless, it was impossible to tell his identity from the rank insignia on his uniform; Hu Biao, on the other hand, was covered in gunpowder and blood, and even a familiar face from the modern world probably wouldn't recognize him.

Surprisingly, the two guessed each other's identities the moment they saw each other.

Then, each of them had a reaction that seemed utterly baffling to the rest of the commando team.

After Hu Biao realized what was happening, he didn't even have time to make a phone call. He grabbed the butt of his rifle and slammed it hard against the hatch of the tank turret next to him several times.

One of the second lieutenant gunners inside was the same one who had been replaced by Hu Biao.

The young man was quite quick-witted; he immediately opened the hatch.

Then came Commander Hu's order, which was utterly astonishing: "You come out, let me go in and fire the cannons. That shirtless Japanese soldier is definitely Hisano Seiichi, the lieutenant general and commander of the 18th Division. That bastard has caused so many of our deaths, I'm going to shell him today."

Listen up, everyone, no one is allowed to fire. We don't want to let that Japanese soldier die too easily.

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant, whose origins in the Central Army were unclear, tried to offer some advice to Commander Hu, saying that capturing a Japanese lieutenant general alive would be a greater achievement and would earn him a higher reward from his superiors.

When Hu Biao glared at him, he immediately thought of the Japanese soldiers of the 18th Division and their atrocities in Nanjing.

He swallowed back the words he was about to say and quickly climbed out of the turret.

He thought to himself, "Hu Biao, Commander Hu, truly deserves to be called a tiger general even the Japanese acknowledge. He's really scary when he gets angry."

Then Hu Biao climbed into the tank turret and immediately adjusted the muzzle to aim at Kuno Seiichi.

Alright! Everyone could just fire a burst of bullets and kill this Japanese lieutenant general, even if he had more than half a pound of bullets in his body, but Hu Biao insisted on using artillery to finish him off.

Regarding Hu Biao and Hu Tuanzuo's actions, let's not even talk about the other brothers.

Even Qiu Qingquan, the guy known as Crazy Qiu, only had one thought in his mind: to unify the country, brother! You really know how to play.

Hisana Seiichi's reaction was also strange. Perhaps it was the fearsome reputation of Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai, that frightened him and left him stunned.

Or perhaps it was the instinctive fear of being aimed at by the dark muzzle of a cannon that made his mind go blank, rendering him unable to think at all.

The many changes and setbacks they've encountered today have left this Japanese devil's brain malfunctioning and not working properly.

In any case, all he had to do was flip his wrist and plunge the sharp samurai sword into his stomach, and he could easily accomplish his initial goal of ending his life.

However, his mind went blank at that moment, and driven by instinct, he stood up and ran away.

Upon seeing this, Hu Biao, who had finished adjusting the muzzle, immediately stepped on the firing pedal and fired a 45mm shell.

Unsurprisingly, Hu Biao missed the target again.

The shell landed about twelve or thirteen meters away from Kuno Seiichi, who had run away as fast as he could; this proved that Hu Biao's artillery skills were absolutely terrible, and he simply had no talent in that area.

Hu Biao himself certainly didn't think so; he was convinced that things were too far removed from his own perspective.

As long as you get close enough, there's no such thing as missing.

He immediately shouted, "Boss lady, chase after him and let me get closer before you fire; I refuse to believe we can't hit this Japanese devil today."

In the time that followed, one person ran ahead while a group of people chased behind; Kuno Seiichi had no chance of escaping.

During the process, Hu Biao fired seven shots at Jiu Nacheng, but none of them landed within ten meters.

The other Japanese soldiers who witnessed this scene did not abandon their division commander; many Japanese soldiers, in groups of three or five, took the initiative to come to his rescue.

However, those around Hu Biao, who had received orders, could not open fire on Kuno Seiichi, their target, but could they also show mercy to these Japanese soldiers?

Immediately, a barrage of bullets, including a tank cannon shot, was fired.

In an instant, the Japanese soldiers who were trying to come to the rescue were completely overwhelmed.

This situation eventually reached the point where, during a chaotic escape, Kuno Seiichi fled to the crooked pomegranate tree in front of the village office.

When breathing becomes rapid and legs have no strength left, one can no longer run; or one may give up and think it would be better to be shot dead.

His legs gave way and he collapsed onto the muddy ground.

He let the tank that had been pursuing him get closer and closer stop in front of him, and after adjusting its gun barrel, it was almost touching his forehead.

Filled with resignation, they awaited their fate of being executed by cannon fire.

But then Hu Biao changed his mind. Or rather, when he saw this lush, crooked pomegranate tree, Hu Biao felt it would be a waste to let it be destroyed along with Kuna Seiichi.

He shouted, "Go and capture this Japanese lieutenant general, and give him a 'ruba'!"

The commander of the Japanese Independent Mixed Brigade 19 was captured and subjected to an "Aruba" (a form of sexual intercourse), resulting in him becoming a eunuch on the spot.

Almost every member of the troops fighting for reinforcements in the Dadong Township battlefield had already heard about it and felt incredibly relieved.

Because of their limited education, they cannot understand the important principles of the 'united front' and only have a simple, unfounded understanding:

Why? When the Japanese captured our officers and soldiers, they would kill them like livestock; but when we captured Japanese soldiers, we had to feed and treat them well.

So when he heard that he was going to give Kuno Seiichi, the enemy commander of the Japanese 18th Division, another 'Aruba', he was immediately excited.

Soon a group of people rushed over, pinned down and lifted Kuno Seiichi.

The key is that its legs were forcibly spread apart, making its whole body form the shape of the Chinese character "大" (big).

Before carrying Kuna Seiichi into the ram, a clever little fellow asked, "Commander Hu, is this still fifty rams?"

"No! I said long ago that not a single member of the Japanese 18th Division would be spared. A man's word is his bond, and of course we must keep our word."

Fifty strokes? No way it's that easy! Give me a good "Aruba" and keep this Japanese devil groaning until he dies.

Hu Biao took out a pack of cigarettes with a blood-stained outer shell from his shirt pocket, lit one, and then gave a reply that filled Kuno Seiichi with despair.

Although he had no idea what 'Aruba' was before, after seeing the humiliating position he was currently in, did he even need to ask...?

January 11, 1, 4:16 PM.

Lieutenant General Seiichi Hisano, commander of the Japanese 18th Division, was killed by the Nationalist army's "Aruba" (a type of stun gun). He also set a record for being hit 88 times in a row.

I have to say it! The number 88 is actually quite auspicious.

From that moment on, the remaining Japanese soldiers of the 18th Division no longer had the courage to hold their ground and began to break out separately.

Those with smaller forces could only manage a breakout team of three or four hundred men.

Even those with more troops only had a breakout team of eight or nine hundred men.

Furthermore, they had absolutely no organizational structure whatsoever; they were just multiple different units with various branches of service mixed together, resulting in utter chaos in command.

Given the Japanese troops' current state of affairs, facing a Nationalist army with several times their numbers and soaring morale, such a breakout attempt was practically suicidal.

If they hold their ground, they can probably hold out for a little longer.

However, if they choose to break through, they often end up being wiped out after only a few hundred meters.

At 4:47, the Japanese troops took off from Beihai Weizhou Island Airport. The support formation, consisting of 6 fighter planes and 12 bombers, finally arrived over the battlefield.

However, the Japanese flight squadron leader, after just one glance from high above, knew that the battle situation on the ground was beyond saving.

After circling in the air, they protected a breakout force of more than 700 men, who then broke through towards the pass in the south of Dadong Township.

Thanks to the two Japanese companies stationed at the southern pass, they withstood multiple attacks from a regiment of the Guangxi Army and maintained control of this escape route.

When the Japanese 18th Division finally set off from Guangzhou, with a force of over 15,000 men, only 923 men escaped, less than 10% of them survived.

The highest-ranking officer among them was only a major.

Unfortunately, in addition to these 923 people, the Japanese also left a supply battalion behind in Guangzhou. Otherwise, according to the standard of annihilation during World War II, destroying more than 90% of a unit's manpower would be considered a complete annihilation.

This Japanese unit, whose combat power was comparable to a Class A division, can now be disbanded.

Even if the 18th Division were to be rebuilt later, it would essentially be rendered useless, because its backbone had been completely broken on the land of southern Guangxi...

(End of this chapter)