The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 593 A Sense of Intimacy (Two-in-One Chapter)

"Ni Xiufeng~"

Standing on the western city wall, Anne, who was holding a telescope and observing the battle in the city by the bright moonlight and the glow of many burning fires, suddenly shouted out a sentence.

The next second, on the open ground below the city wall, a second lieutenant from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment stepped forward.

With his chest out and stomach in, he gave Anne a standard military salute and shouted a loud "Here!" His expression and tone were filled with indescribable excitement and solemnity.

The reason why this lieutenant named Ni Xiufeng was so emotional was...

On one hand, Chief of Staff An, who is now stationed on the city wall, sends a small unit to the battlefield every time he calls roll.

This was not a piecemeal tactic, but a timely adjustment made in response to the weaknesses of the Japanese forces.

This would allow them to further compress the Japanese forces' operational space within the city, and even encircle and annihilate a small Japanese unit.

Now that his name has been called, it means that he no longer has to serve as a reserve force under the city walls and can finally join the fierce battlefield.

On the other hand, the Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, although nominally only a regiment, was at least a brigade in terms of actual troop strength.

This means there are at least a hundred officers.

Ni Xiufeng was not a senior officer; he was merely a deputy squad leader who had been temporarily promoted five days prior. Yet, Chief of Staff An remembered his name clearly.

This point particularly excited and moved Ni Xiufeng.

What he didn't know was that Annie remembered not only the names of all the officers in the regiment, but also some basic information quite clearly.

Even some experienced and promising class monitors can immediately call out people's names without making a mistake.

This girl has a pretty good memory, but there's a prerequisite: she has to be willing to remember the person and related things.

Anne had no idea, nor did she have time to care, why a simple roll call of hers could make one of her subordinates so excited.

When a loud "Here!" reached her ears, she immediately issued an order: "Take a hundred men and a light machine gun and go to area 12 immediately, then nail them to the spot."

The so-called Zone 12 is before tonight's battle begins.

Anne, along with some of her advisors, divided Xiangyin County into numerous smaller areas based on a map, each with a corresponding numerical designation.

They also manually copied several simplified maps and distributed them to officers of the participating troops.

Ni Xiufeng had a simple map like this in his hand, so he naturally knew where area 12 was.

He immediately gestured with his hand to select about a hundred people from the waiting reserve troops, without distinguishing their specific numbers or which units they came from, and led them to charge towards area 12.

After a rapid journey, they soon arrived at a ruin.

They had just set up some temporary firing positions using the remaining walls and weapons on the racks when a small group of Japanese soldiers hurriedly fled from their right front and were blocked by them.

"Good heavens! Is Chief of Staff An some kind of reincarnation of Zhuge Liang? He can even predict the movements of the Japanese army perfectly!" Upon seeing this, Ni Xiufeng couldn't help but exclaim.

While marveling at the situation, he dared not delay for even a moment.

Holding a Mauser pistol that symbolized his rank as a junior officer, he raised his hand and fired a shot at the fleeing Japanese soldier, shouting:
"Beat them! Beat them hard!"

Under such an order, the hundred or so brothers who followed him immediately opened fire wildly, blocking the fleeing Japanese soldiers.

Twenty or thirty seconds later, Hu Biao and Zhang Lingfu had already caught up with a group of people.

Attacked from both sides, the Japanese soldiers were annihilated in no time.

Hu Biao and Zhang Lingfu then separated again, each leading a group of men to continue fighting in the city, while Ni Xiufeng led a group of brothers to hold their ground in one position, further reducing the area where the Japanese could conduct mobile warfare.

Cases similar to those involving Lieutenant Ni Xiufeng have been ongoing.

As the battle progressed, Anne deployed reserve troops to the battlefield, using them like ropes to tighten around the Japanese soldiers' necks, making them increasingly uncomfortable.

In this process, she naturally wouldn't just send officers from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment to lead troops on missions.

All other officers, whether from the 74th Army or Commander Xue's guard regiment, were treated equally; these officers also carried out Chief of Staff An's orders without any compromise.

Sure enough! After putting down her binoculars, Anne glanced at the reserve troops on the open ground below the city.

He pointed at a major and shouted, "Major! Please step forward."

Upon hearing the order, the major immediately stepped forward, saluted Anne with impeccable military posture, and shouted loudly:

"Yu Tongmin, deputy battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion, 343rd Regiment, 58th Division, 74th Army, requests that the commander issue orders."

Anne returned the greeting, saying crisply:
"Battalion Commander Yu, you immediately take 120 men and two light machine guns and rush to the defense of Area 7. Do not let any Japanese soldiers pass through."

"Commander An! Don't worry, if I fail to complete the mission, even if our division commander and regimental commander don't kill me, I'll bring my own head to face them."

Yu Tongming gathered his strength in his dantian and roared as he made a solemn pledge.

They then gathered about 120 men and two light machine guns and headed towards Area 7.

And so, as Anne continued to send out troops, the Nationalist army's advantage on the battlefield in Xiangyin City began to grow larger and larger...

******
At 3:47 a.m., the fierce street fighting in Xiangyin City had been going on for more than two hours.

Anne, standing atop the city wall, once again put down her binoculars; but this time, she did not name any officer or instruct him on how to proceed.

Because the battle had reached this point, she knew it was time for her to step in, deliver the decisive blow, and end the fight once and for all.

So she picked up an MP28 submachine gun and headed straight down to the city.

As he walked, he first shouted, "Contact Director Mina immediately and tell her that I said so, and have her fly the plane back and land immediately."

If you're still thinking about piloting a plane and running over Japanese soldiers on the ground, you'd better watch out for her skin later.

Then, he shouted again, "Yin Jinhua, bring your brothers and follow me."

Now considered the head of Anne's bodyguard team, Yin Jinhua perked up upon hearing the order and quickly gathered a group of seventy or eighty people to follow her chief of staff.

They had already used up all the bullets on the plane and had been circling over Xiangyin City for some time now.

Mina, who had been searching for a big fish so she could crash her plane into it, heard Annie's orders through the onboard radio.

It immediately started muttering something resentful, but despite its fierce words, its true reaction was to obediently turn back.

Ultimately, despite the terrible nighttime conditions, they managed to land with ease.

After Anne descended the city wall, she led Yin Jinhua and her entourage straight towards the southeast of the city.

This location has a large lake called East Lake, and next to it stands the Wenxing Pagoda, an ancient pagoda about 31 meters high, which was built as early as the Song and Yuan dynasties.

Together with another Wulong Pagoda of similar height, it forms a scenic view known as "Twin Pagodas Soaring into the Clouds," which is considered one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Xiangyin.

It can only be said that these two towers are quite lucky, having remained intact through numerous wars, making them one of the very few buildings in the city that are still in good condition.

They have even been preserved into the modern world, becoming protected cultural relics of Hunan Province.

The reason Annie led her men here is because the Japanese soldiers in the city were being eliminated one after another, and their space for maneuver was being compressed.

During her observation through the binoculars, she was able to see a very crucial situation:

Kanda Masatane, the commander of the Japanese 6th Division, led a group of men and hastily retreated to Wenxing Tower.

They planned to rely on this tall tower, which was entirely made of granite and was quite sturdy, for a final, desperate resistance; perhaps this Japanese lieutenant general was even planning to hold out until dawn.

Because at that time, their planes will be able to take off again.

With the relentless bombing of hundreds of aircraft, they could easily blast a bloody path for the troops at the front, allowing them to return and rescue them, preventing the entire army from being wiped out.

But now that Annie has seen it, how could she let Kanda Masatane have his way? That old devil, he's destined not to last until dawn.

With this in mind, Annie hurriedly arrived at a location about six or seven hundred meters away from Wenxing Tower.

They could see that Hu Biao, Huang Adi, Dali, and their three fellow time travelers, along with thousands of others, had completely surrounded the Wenxing Tower.

The Japanese side had set up a temporary defensive perimeter around the Wenxing Tower, with numerous firing positions faintly visible inside the tower. A rough estimate suggests that the total number of Japanese soldiers here was around five hundred.

In comparison, Hu Biao and his men had a two-to-one numerical advantage, but they were having an exceptionally difficult time in their current offensive.

The most crucial reason was that the Japanese had deployed multiple light and heavy machine guns on the Wenxing Tower.

As Hu Biao and his men charged forward, they found themselves with nowhere to hide, and they had even used up all their DIY smoke grenades and hand grenades.

Before Annie arrived, Hu Biao and his men had already launched a trial attack.

However, after advancing only 400 meters from the tower, there were already fifty or sixty casualties.

Reaching this position meant entering the effective firing range of the Japanese Type 38 rifles; the further forward they went, the more casualties they would suffer.

Seeing this, Hu Biao and his men, though somewhat unwilling, could only hastily retreat.

As for the other time travelers, there are also the troops of the 74th Army and Commander Xue's guard regiment, who are currently clearing out the remaining Japanese soldiers in other areas of the city.

After continuous fighting, the number of these Japanese soldiers has been greatly reduced, but knowing they are doomed, they have become even more frenzied.

In any case, the aforementioned personnel and troops are not available to provide support in the short term.

When Annie rushed over, she was quite speechless to find that Hu Biao and Huang Adi were arguing.

After spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm with a "pui," Huang Adi stared at the Wenxing Pagoda in the distance and cursed angrily, "Men! Drag our Type 92 infantry guns in from outside the city, and remember to bring all the ammunition."

"I refuse to believe it! Once we blow this dilapidated tower down, the Japanese devils will still be this fierce!"

That's right! The Type 92 infantry guns that were captured during the ambush of the Japanese 68th Infantry Regiment have also been brought to the battlefield in Xiangyin County tonight.

Aside from firing a few shots during the siege, it was completely useless in urban warfare.

Thanks to this, there should still be over a hundred shells left.

Although the power of 70mm shells is limited, such a large stockpile of shells is enough to directly blast the Wenxing Tower in front of us to collapse.

Without the overwhelming machine gun fire from above, this battle will be much easier.

To Huang Adi's surprise, just as a messenger was about to run out of the city to bring the Type 92 infantry gun into the city...

Hu Biao suddenly spoke up: "Stop! Don't bring in the cannons. This tower can't be blown up."

Hu Biao's objection wasn't because he was reluctant to damage such an ancient building.

Things are inanimate, but people are alive! The lives of so many brothers are more valuable than an ancient pagoda—Hu Biao understood this simple truth quite well.

The real reason was after Brother Huang issued the order to bring in the cannons.

Suddenly, a clear realization dawned on him:

The tower must not be blown up, or rather, the Wenxing Tower must not be destroyed in tonight's battle, otherwise some terrible things will happen to them.

Hu Biao immediately realized that this sudden realization must have come from the request of that mysterious place.

If we don't do as they ask, the consequences will be far beyond what they can bear, so we must ensure the tower remains intact tonight.

That's when he immediately spoke up to stop the messenger.

Upon hearing Hu Biao's curses, Huang Adi, who was already furious, immediately exploded and, amidst spittle flying, launched into a series of friendly greetings at Hu Biao.

Hu Biao isn't the type to suffer a loss.

They immediately retorted with insults, and the two entered into a shouting match.

As for what Dali was doing during this process? This newbie who had just joined the time-travel journey watched the show from the sidelines. He didn't go up to offer any advice, nor did he dare to. He didn't want to be scolded by the two of them.

Fortunately, Annie arrived at this crucial moment and first stopped the two people who were cursing.

After finding out the real reason, Hu Biao, Annie, Huang Adi, Dali, and the other two all had a headache because of this mess.

If they don't blow up the tower, can they kill the group of Japanese soldiers led by Kanda Masatane before dawn?
Yes, they definitely can, but they will suffer at least a thousand more casualties.

Every one of their brothers was born of parents, not some virtual data in a game; how could they be willing to suffer such heavy casualties when they were on the verge of a great victory?

After a silence of two or three minutes, Anne's eyes suddenly lit up.

He thought to himself: After so many days of fierce battles, my brain is spinning and my thinking is a bit rigid.

They knew they couldn't blow up the tower for certain reasons, but the Japanese soldiers didn't know that. So, based on that, they should be able to use some special methods to force the Japanese soldiers out of the tower.

But what exactly are these special methods?
Annie whispered this to Hu Biao and the other two, and without much hesitation, they all nodded and said:
"Okay! Let's do it this way."

Seeing that the three had agreed, Annie had no more worries.

After finding a tin megaphone, she walked straight out of the pile of ruins where she was currently hiding, revealing her graceful figure to the Japanese soldiers five or six hundred meters away.

He put the tin megaphone to his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Kanda Masatane! I am Anne, Chief of Staff of the Subei Independent Regiment."

I know you're hiding in the tower right now, but do you think you can survive until dawn by hiding like a turtle?

Keep dreaming, anything can happen in dreams.

I'm not afraid to tell you, we've already brought over artillery, specifically Type 92 infantry guns captured from the 68th Infantry Regiment.

"You must feel a sense of familiarity dying beneath the cannons and shells you yourselves manufactured, the shells even carrying the scent of your homeland, and you'll die with a smile on your face, won't you?"

When these words reached the ears of Kanda Masatane, a Japanese lieutenant general who was secretly observing the outside world from the fifth floor of the Wenxing Tower, he was almost furious.

A complex mix of emotions—great resentment, humiliation, anger, and fear—rose within me.

Having graduated from the 31st class of the Japanese Army Academy with excellent grades, he could naturally see the ancient tower he was in, which was quite sturdy.

However, it can only defend against bullets and a single grenade at best, and it cannot withstand direct artillery fire at all.

So ever since he took refuge here, he had been worried about the Nationalist army's artillery; and what he worried about most was exactly what came to pass.

In particular, the other side was also prepared to use the artillery and shells they had captured.

If he were to be blown up like that, he wouldn't feel any sense of familiarity; on the contrary, he would feel extremely humiliated.

If he hadn't known that rushing out now would immediately turn him into a sieve from the Nationalist army's firepower, he would have definitely swung his military knife and hacked this vicious woman to death.

However, he soon discovered that he was not without the opportunity.

Because of that woman, Annie, the chief of staff of the Subei Independent Regiment, who was only slightly less famous than Hu Biao, she continued to shout:

"But if I let you die so easily, I'll feel like I've let you off too easily."

Only by personally killing you and cutting off your head can I do justice to the innocent compatriots you murdered in Nanjing during your tenure as commander of the 45th Infantry Regiment.

Of course! If you had the ability, you could kill me too.

Annie's voice had barely faded when Hu Biao appeared beside her, his voice following immediately:

"I am Hu Biao! How about we have a hand-to-hand battle? Let's each rely on our own skills, or we'll cut off your heads and build a Jingguan (a mound of skulls) on the banks of the Xiang River to commemorate our fallen compatriots."

"Or perhaps we're not skilled enough and will die at your hands."

Huang Adi also stepped forward and said, "You little devils, your grandpa is Huang Adi. You must know me and wish you could kill me."

"Alright, now I'll give you a chance to kill me."

Dali quickly followed up: "My name is Dali. You may not know me, but it doesn't matter. From today onwards, you'll remember me."

Amidst these shouts, Yamada Masatane did not answer immediately, but his eyes were filled with a madness like that of a wild beast.

This alone shows that he definitely won't let this opportunity slip by...

(End of this chapter)