Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

Xitang Street, lined with shops, was deserted and eerily quiet, like the underworld.

Twenty or thirty Japanese soldiers advanced from west to east along the main street. They were arranged in two columns, with riflemen in front, followed by machine gun teams, and a few riflemen bringing up the rear.

After suffering many losses, the Japanese soldiers became cautious and advanced slowly, searching each shop one by one.

This street was the defense zone of the isolated army camp, and they hid among the buildings and alleys.

Suddenly, two figures emerged from the alleyway ahead, firing a burst of submachine guns. The Japanese soldiers scattered to the flanks, lay down, and returned fire.

The attackers had long since disappeared into the alley, leaving the Japanese with one dead and two wounded, which infuriated the squad leader who was leading the team.

If it were before, he would have definitely led his men to chase after them without hesitation. Now he has become more low-key and only ordered indiscriminate firing.

After driving away the attackers, they quickly bandaged the wounded. The lightly wounded continued fighting, while the seriously wounded were left on the street to await the arrival of the recovery team.

Yuto Ishii led the Japanese soldiers forward, but his squad had been scattered, leaving him with only 23 men.

One person has just died and one person is seriously injured, leaving 21 people who are still able to fight.

On a rooftop a few dozen meters away, three soldiers lay quietly, each holding a long-handled grenade.

They hid on the reverse slope of the figure-eight shape, so the Japanese soldiers on the street couldn't find them at all.

As Ishii's squad drew closer, the squad leader, suppressing his excitement, whispered the order:

"The Imperial Army has already controlled three-quarters of the city. The Chinese people's space for activity has been compressed to the limit. If we make a little more effort after dawn, we will definitely be able to annihilate all the Chinese people in the city."

Colonel Tsuda, commander of the 149th Regiment, was not so optimistic. His brow furrowed, he said in a deep voice:

"General, the casualties in our troops are too great! The 149th Regiment alone has brought back more than 100 seriously wounded soldiers, and many more warriors are not receiving treatment."

"If we continue fighting like this, even if we capture the entire city, the 101st Brigade will be crippled and will inevitably miss the grand feast in Nanjing."

Colonel Tsuda's words struck a chord with Major General Sato. He wasn't afraid of losing many lives, but he was worried about missing out on the glory of capturing Nanjing.

"Gentlemen, do you have any good suggestions?"

Everyone fell silent. Time was of the essence, and the defenders were determined to fight to the death. There was no other way but to sacrifice lives.

Major General Sato guessed the outcome from the expressions on everyone's faces. In order not to affect morale, he forced himself to speak:

"Gentlemen, we're on our last legs! Go all out after dawn and wipe out all the Chinese before nightfall. Zhao Yunwen must be captured alive; I'll skin him alive!"

The Japanese soldiers stood up, shouted slogans, and then returned to their command post.

After Colonel Tsuda assigned the mission, he was always restless and was even awakened by nightmares in the middle of the night.

He decided to go outside for some fresh air, and as soon as he stepped out, he heard gunshots like popping beans, coming from the direction of the west!

Then shouts of battle erupted from the south of the city, and flames lit up the night, making it possible to vaguely see human figures.

"Baka yarou, what's going on?"

A senior staff officer rushed in to report:

"It was the Chinese. The Chinese launched a night attack, and all units were attacked, resulting in heavy casualties."

Colonel Tsuda shouted with wide eyes:

"Baka! Didn't the Chinese suffer heavy losses? Where did they get the strength to retaliate?!"

The senior staff officer was speechless; clearly, someone had lied about the battle results. Colonel Tsuda slammed his fists on the table and roared hoarsely:

"Hold on, you must hold on!"

"You must hold on until dawn!"

No wonder Colonel Tsuda broke through the defenses; if the district he had finally captured were lost again, all his men would have died for nothing.

At the guerrilla detachment headquarters, Chief of Staff Xie Polu is reporting on the counterattack:

"Commander, the battalions have launched a fierce counterattack and regained control of many streets, catching the Japanese off guard."

Commander Wang asked whether they should drive the Japanese soldiers out.

Zhao Yunwen shook his head:

"No need. Just restore some blocks, but no more than half. It wouldn't be good if we scared the Japanese away."

"Positioning is not the most important thing; the primary objective is to eliminate the enemy's manpower!"

After a brief pause, Zhao Yunwen continued to ask:

"Were the casualties among our brothers high?"

Xie Polu's face turned ugly, and he said with a gloomy expression:

"The two sides have been locked in combat for a long time, and the exact number of casualties will only be known after the battle ends."

More than fifty seriously wounded soldiers have been brought in, and Director Su is already complaining, hoping for reinforcements.

These are just the ones that have been delivered; there will only be more that haven't been delivered yet. This is a pain that must be endured in urban warfare.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Yunwen said:

"Twenty brothers skilled in battlefield first aid will be transferred from the supply train to support the field hospital. Tell Su Wanqing that she will overcome the difficulties herself, and that she will not allow a single seriously wounded soldier who can be saved to die!"

The counterattack in the south of the city, towards Zhengyang Bridge, is progressing the fastest. This area is mostly ruins and has no natural defenses.

The Japanese soldiers were unfamiliar with the terrain and did not expect the defending troops to have the strength to fight back, so they were caught off guard.

Battalion Commander Luo Wen assembled over 400 men. The Fourth and Fifth Companies infiltrated from both flanks, while the Sixth Company and the artillery company advanced from the front. If they encountered resistance, they would engage the Japanese, waiting for the flanks to encircle and cut them off, before finally converging and annihilating them.

Using this practical tactic, they not only defeated several scattered groups of soldiers, but also surrounded and annihilated three groups of Japanese soldiers, killing more than 200 enemy soldiers and recapturing two-thirds of the street.

Just as they were preparing to drive the Japanese out in one fell swoop, the regimental communications officer arrived. Although Luo Wen was unwilling, he resolutely carried out the military order and retreated half a mile.

As a veteran member of the Security Corps, he followed Zhao Yunwen after graduating from the ninth class of the Central Military Academy, and never compromised on carrying out orders.

As dawn broke, the gunfire subsided. Enraged, Kenzo Sato gave a death order to retake the lost positions.

Two infantry regiments concentrated all their artillery fire and bombarded the guerrilla-controlled area, starting a new fierce battle.