The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 539 Hu Biao! I Miss You So Much in Shuangqing (Two Chapters Combined)

(Chapter 536 has been taken into custody and is still being revised, but I really don't know when it will be released.)
At 11:30 p.m. on September 23, at Huangshan Villa in the southern suburbs of Shuangqing.

At this time of day, the bald principal, who emphasizes health and is always very punctual, would normally be fast asleep.

But today, even though he changed into comfortable pajamas, he showed no intention of sleeping at all.

He was in his study at the moment, but the lights were off. He was standing by the window, gazing absently at the garden under the streetlights, lost in thought.
In reality, the bald-headed principal was thinking about Hu Biao.

To be more precise, it was when the situation in C Sand City and the 9th War Zone became increasingly critical that Hu Biao, an exceptionally useful battlefield firefighting team, came to mind.

According to the latest battle report, the Nationalist army hastily set up a defensive line at the Miluo River, but it has been completely breached by the Japanese, and the defending troops have suffered heavy losses.

Although Xue Boling has now adopted a posture of defending Changsha to the death.

A large force, mainly composed of the 10th Army, was urgently deployed to form another defensive line along the Laodao River, 30 kilometers outside C Shacheng.

They claimed they could definitely stop the Japanese invaders and make them suffer heavy losses here.

The 74th Army, which won the "Flying Tiger Flag" and the "First Military Merit Certificate" in the Battle of Shanggao, is an elite unit of the National Revolutionary Army that set off a few days ago.

The 57th Division, as the vanguard, will arrive in the Liuyang area by tomorrow evening and will soon join the battle, delivering a heavy blow to the Japanese from the flank.

At that time, we will be able to achieve a brilliant victory by trapping the enemy and severely damaging them at the foot of C Sand City.

However, given the rapidly deteriorating war situation, the bald-headed principal felt extremely pessimistic and unwilling to believe Xue Boling's claims and guarantees.

所以早在20日，光头校长就下令第3、第5、第6战区各以有力一部出击，策应第9战区作战。

The 6th War Zone, led by Commander Chen Xiuci, was preparing to mobilize a massive force of 15 divisions and launched a fierce attack on Yichang City while the enemy was unprepared.

Yichang was a very important departure base for the Japanese army when they attacked Shuangqing.

It was also an important stronghold for advancing downstream and attacking and recapturing Wuhan.

It is likely that if Yichang is seriously threatened, the morale of the Japanese 11th Army attacking Changsha will be greatly impacted.

In short, in order to protect C City and to ensure that the 9th War Zone, which is crucial to the wartime capital of Shuangqing, does not suffer too many casualties in this battle.

The bald principal tried every possible method and used every available means.

Unfortunately, despite making many arrangements, the bald-headed principal still felt quite uncertain, vaguely sensing that the 9th War Zone would suffer a great loss at the hands of the Japanese in this operation.

Under such circumstances, the bald-headed principal especially missed Hu Biao and Commander Hu, who had acted as a fire brigade in the Battle of Guinan and completely changed the course of the battle.

They even started to imagine it in their minds:
"If we can find Hu Biao and his comrades now, we should first send them to C Sand City by transport plane, and then give him the right to gather the remnants of the army and prioritize replenishing his equipment."

It seems that the outcome of this battle is still uncertain.

Unfortunately, he soon shook his head, finding his own thoughts both amusing and frustrating.

Nothing more! Since Hu Biao made a brief appearance in Yi County, Hebei Province at the end of last year, causing chaos throughout North China, he has not been seen again.

Whenever rumors circulated about Hu Biao and his associates appearing in a certain place, he would always order his subordinates from the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to immediately go and find them. However, each time it turned out that it was just someone else impersonating them.

After being disappointed so many times, I've almost given up hope.

Even so, the thought would still occasionally cross the bald principal's mind: "Hu Biao! I miss you so much in Shuangqing..."

At the same time, several miles outside a town called Shuangbanqiao in Xiangxiang County, on a roadside in what could be considered a desolate wilderness.

After letting out a big yawn, Zhu Sanwa, a soldier from the Xiangxiang Security Regiment, glanced at the dark road ahead.

When they discovered that there was still no movement and they didn't know when the people they were waiting for would appear, their anticipation grew stronger.

The reason for this is that it was almost dark today.

Their security team leader, Zhao Daye, suddenly returned in a hurry.

Then, along with Zhu Sanwa and thirty or forty of his trusted brothers, as well as many cooks and assistants from the county town, they brought a large number of pots and pans, as well as ingredients such as chicken, duck, fish, meat, and fresh fruits.

They hurriedly arrived at this desolate place and busied themselves setting up a pot and cooking a meal.

It was only after they arrived at the destination that they were told that a large army secretly marching towards C City would pass by Shuangbanqiao in the middle of the night.

Under the orders of the county magistrate and some other virtuous officials.

So Zhao Daye and his men came here to prepare some hot food for the army, as a way for the people of Xiangxiang to reward the troops.

As for the specific unit that came, Zhao Daye had repeatedly explained this after he finished introducing the situation:
Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and don't inquire about what you shouldn't inquire about.

After finishing their work, each person received a silver dollar as a reward and went home. Remember to keep this matter a secret, and for half a month, neither your parents nor your wife should say a word about it.

This was something where you could get a silver dollar as a reward for cooking a hot meal for the troops fighting the Japanese.

It can be said to be a good thing that benefits both the country and himself, so Zhu Sanwa was naturally quite happy and willing.

Unfortunately, an hour earlier, a lavish meal, enough to feed thousands of people and something he only ate a few times a year, had been prepared.

That mysterious army has yet to appear, leaving everyone anxiously waiting.

Fortunately, after waiting for what felt like an eternity, for another half hour, the mysterious unit that was forbidden from being questioned or spoken of finally appeared.

But in the dim moonlight and the flickering firelight, Zhu Sanwa saw the figures of those people in the distance and felt a great sense of disappointment.

What mysterious army? They don't even look as good as the security regiment in Xiangxiang. How can we expect them to fight the Japanese?

On the dirt road, barely wide enough for one truck to pass, a group of people who looked neither like soldiers nor civilians were jogging toward them by the moonlight, without torches.

This led Zhu Sanwa to have such a strange idea.

Are these people soldiers? Except for the leaders, who are all dressed in crisp military uniforms.

The remaining men all wore large straw hats, and their clothes were in the style of the Nationalist army, but they were all made of coarse homespun cloth, and the colors were poorly dyed.

He wore leg wraps on his calves and straw sandals on his feet.

This outfit looks extremely shabby, even worse than their security team. At least their security team has a black uniform and cloth shoes.

Furthermore, the formation is extremely chaotic, or rather, there is no mysterious formation at all.

Could they be considered ordinary civilians? Besides carrying rifles and grenades, they also had various long knives on their backs, giving them a fully armed appearance.

After seeing these people, Zhu Sanwa was as disappointed as he had been looking forward to them.

I really don't believe that these seemingly shabby troops could have played any role given the legendary defeat of the Central Army by the Japanese in C City.

There is even a strong suspicion that they were immediately destroyed after being bombarded by Japanese artillery and bombed by Japanese planes once they went to the battlefield.

For a moment, their gazes towards this mysterious force turned into one of extreme disdain...

After clearly sensing the intense disdain in the eyes of the security guards on the roadside.

Qin Mubai, also known as Dali, was a newcomer who had just joined the time-travel journey and suffered from a severe fear of guns and cannons. He couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself.

Well! He admitted that the current Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment were indeed somewhat lacking in appearance.

However, having previously served as Mina's deputy and in charge of logistics, he knew that this was something that had no other choice.

Xinning is, after all, a poor little county in southwestern Hunan.

It is a miracle in itself that a mere county could arm such a force, nicknamed a regiment but which is actually equivalent to a division, in such a short time.

As a result, there was no way to equip the brothers with steel helmets, and military caps were replaced by straw hats that could shield them from the sun and rain.

The military uniforms could only be made from homespun cloth collected from the countryside. After being crudely dyed, some women were hired to sew them hastily.

Military shoes could only be cloth shoes, and each person could only be issued one pair. However, the brothers were reluctant to wear them and had to wear straw sandals to travel the whole way. Such situations were unavoidable.

It's not that Hu Biao was ineffective in procuring supplies or that the villagers of Xinning didn't provide enough support; rather, they simply couldn't keep up with the workload in such a short period of half a month.

As for the chaotic marching formation? That such a newly formed force managed to march hundreds of miles with very few people falling behind is itself a huge miracle; what more can be asked of them? The only saving grace is that Hu Biao's reputation is truly effective.

Once people learned that this army was part of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and was under the command of Hu Biao and Hu, those who had initially been somewhat dismissive of it changed their minds.

In terms of attitude, there was an immediate and astonishing change that was clearly visible to the naked eye.

Sure enough! After the two sides met, a local security regiment leader came up and kowtowed to Hu Biao.

The two men didn't seem to be soldiers at all; rather, it was as if Hu Biao was a bandit leader and the head of the security regiment was a local tyrant.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Hu Biao roared out his command:
"Those who have arrived, stop dawdling and eat right away. After eating, rest for ten minutes and set off immediately; we still have at least forty li to travel tonight."

After saying that, Dali followed the example of the others, picked up a clean bowl from the baskets, and had someone scoop out most of the rice from the rice cooker.

Then, some meat and vegetables were added to other large pots, along with a spoonful of meat broth.

Dali, who had eaten some dry food at five o'clock in the afternoon, was already very hungry. However, he ate three large bowls of rice and vegetables and drank a bowl of vegetable soup before he recovered.

Although I'd like another bowl, it's not like I can't finish it.

But considering that they still had a long way to go and that being too full would affect their ability to move around, they decided against it.

Afterwards, he rolled a cigarette and smoked it, then shouldered the barrel of a Type 24 heavy machine gun and its folded gun rack, preparing to continue his journey.

At that moment, a security guard he had just seen by the roadside walked straight toward him.

When he finally spoke, all traces of disdain from before were gone from his face; instead, only an indescribable longing and anticipation remained.
"Sir, can I join the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and fight the Japanese with you?"
If you take me with you, I'm quite familiar with the roads we've traveled this far, and I know a few side paths that are relatively easy to travel. It should save us at least fifty or sixty li of travel.

This wasn't the first time Dali had encountered a situation like this. The team now had five or six hundred more people than when they first set off, all of whom had joined on their own initiative after being met along the way.

However, since it involved taking a back road, Dali still consulted Hu Biao.

After receiving Hu Biao's affirmative reply, he returned to Zhu Sanwa and said, "Brother, welcome to the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment. From now on, we'll rely on you to lead the way."

"By the way! If we take the back road, how far is it from Changsha city?"

"About 260 or 270 li away. At the marching speed of our Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, we should be able to reach C Sha City in three days," Zhu Sanwa replied without much thought.

Upon hearing this, Dali's heart skipped a beat.

Because he knew that soon he would face the biggest challenge of his life.

How should I put it? After so many days of training, I've managed to overcome the terrible reaction of getting goosebumps and trembling slightly when I see guns and cannons.

But the sound of gunfire and explosions still evokes a tremendous, instinctive fear.

"The Japanese devils are not even human beings. Killing them is not killing people, but rather a great deed with immeasurable merit."

Dali kept repeating this phrase to himself, hoping that it was based on the experience given to him by his superior, Mina, and that he wouldn't have wasted his time traveling through time...

******
On September 25, around 9 p.m., Wang Yaowu breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Liuyang County, which he could see without binoculars.

Then, even though he had spent many years in the military and had long been accustomed to life and death.

Thinking about everything that happened to their 74th Army in the past two days, I still feel a huge sense of frustration, helplessness, and heartache.

Since they set off from Jiangxi Province on the 21st, the Japanese discovered their whereabouts in less than half a day.

From that moment on, we forced ourselves to keep going, fearing an air raid by the Japanese.

This fear finally became a reality yesterday; the Japanese launched a massive bombing raid on the marching columns of the 57th and 58th Divisions of the 74th Army.

Even though the 74th Army was an elite unit of the National Revolutionary Army, its air defense capabilities were still quite weak. Such air raids not only greatly reduced its marching speed but also resulted in heavy casualties.

Especially since this morning, the casualties among the troops have been staggering as they passed through areas such as Jiaoxi Ridge and Da'ai Road.

Because the roads and roadside areas here are quite narrow, even when the Japanese air raid was spotted from afar, there was no way to disperse the troops.

The only option was to organize ground firepower and engage in an unfair exchange of fire with the Japanese troops in the air.

In addition, faced with one urgent telegram after another from Commander Xue, the wounded could only be left by the roadside, waiting for the 51st Division behind them to help take them in.

Just thinking about that process now makes Wang Yaowu, who is proud all his life, feel extremely frustrated.

Under such continuous air raids by the Japanese, the casualties of the 74th Army were also quite staggering; preliminary estimates suggest that the combined casualties of the 57th and 58th Divisions amounted to more than two thousand.

In terms of morale, it suffered a considerable blow.

In other words, the 74th was a top-tier elite unit of the National Revolutionary Army. If it were any other unit, it would probably be on the verge of complete collapse under such circumstances.

After quickly composing himself, Wang Yaowu arrived in the city and immediately called the 9th War Zone.

After the conversation, Wang Yaowu's expression grew increasingly sullen; because he had just received a new order from Commander Xue over the phone:

The 74th Army immediately proceeded to Huanghua City to deploy its defenses. (This corresponds to Huanghua Airport in the modern-day timeline, and the surrounding area.)
Wang Yaowu instinctively knew there was something wrong with the battle order, but under Commander Xue's strict orders, he had no choice but to order the troops to continue advancing.

What he didn't know was that this order also destroyed the 74th Army's last chance to avoid being driven to despair...

On the morning of the 26th, most of the 57th and 58th Divisions successfully crossed the Laodao River, with the vanguard even reaching the Chunhua Mountain area.

At this time, the 74th Army was unaware that Commander Xue of C Shacheng was preparing to withdraw his command post to Xiangtan.

According to the agreement, the 37th and 26th Armies, which were supposed to defend the north and southwest sides, had already been defeated by the Japanese and were now fighting alone.

Chunhua Mountain is a key defensive point in C Sand City.

Here, the vanguard of the 74th Army ran into the Japanese 3rd Division.

The two sides first engaged in a skirmish, and as both sides continued to commit troops, the scale of the battle rapidly expanded, and the battlefield spread to areas such as Yong'an City.

To be honest, the 74th Army was definitely not the elite force of the Nationalist Army.

After several days of forced marches and numerous air raids along the way, resulting in heavy casualties and a significant blow to morale.

After a day of fierce fighting with an elite Japanese Class A division, they were still at a disadvantage.

And then, as night fell, the 51st Division arrived.

Wang Yaowu judged that after a day of fierce fighting, the Japanese 3rd Division was exhausted, so he decided to launch a counterattack to defeat this powerful enemy.

Wang Yaowu's judgment was correct; the Japanese 3rd Division was indeed exhausted, and the combat effectiveness of a large number of troops had been greatly reduced.

What he didn't expect was that the Japanese had more than just the 3rd Division at Chunhua Mountain.

Originally, the Japanese plan was to have the 3rd Division hold off the 74th Army first, while the 4th and 6th Divisions would first capture C Shacheng and then encircle the 74th Army.

Unexpectedly, the 74th Army's resilience and marching speed far exceeded the Japanese's expectations.

Also after nightfall, Anami Korechi issued a new order: the 6th Division was to abandon its siege plan and participate in the operation against the 74th Division.

Therefore, with the addition of some troops from the 6th Division to the battlefield, the 74th Army's counter-offensive plan encountered a tough nut to crack.

Even more fatal was the 68th Infantry Regiment under the 3rd Division.

This fresh force of the Japanese troops set off quietly under the cover of night. They planned to bypass the defenses of the 57th Division at Chunhua Mountain and cross the Laodao River to head south.

On the 27th, they attacked from both sides with other Japanese troops, dealing a heavy blow to the 74th Army; historically, this was also the beginning of a series of defeats for the 74th Army.

However, this time the situation has taken a turn for the better.

Because in the darkness of night, the Hunan branch of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment also arrived here, at the only place that the Japanese 68th Infantry Regiment was about to pass through.

Is it possible to change the terrible outcome of this war?
Then we need to see how the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and the Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment, a unit that has only been formed for a little over half a month, can achieve.

We won! Everything is negotiable now.

He lost! Hu Biao will probably have no face to face the people of Hunan Province again...

(End of this chapter)