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

Zhao Yunwen led the guerrilla detachment headquarters into the city. The First and Second Regiments were on guard outside, while the Third Regiment successfully took control of the county town. They used force to suppress dozens of local thugs who were looting, smashing, and burning, thus stabilizing the situation.

Under the burning, killing, and looting of the Japanese invaders, the county town had become a living hell. More than 30% of the people were massacred by the Japanese, more than half of the houses were burned down, and the county's wealth, which had lasted for thousands of years, was looted and severely damaged.

If the guerrilla detachment hadn't arrived, the casualties and losses would have been even greater. All the looted items by the Japanese were seized by the Third Regiment. Zhao Yunwen immediately ordered that all the property be returned to any survivors who could be found, and the rest be distributed equally among the others. Then, they were evacuated to the surrounding towns and villages to avoid the fighting.

The field hospital, led by Dr. Su, treated the wounded, with medicines supplied by the guerrilla detachment and assisted by soldiers of the Third Regiment.

Everyone in the city was busy from 11 a.m. until dusk when news came from the front that a large number of Japanese reinforcements had arrived.

The plan to spend the night in the city was disrupted, and Zhao allowed everyone to evacuate the county town and spend the night in Huashan, including the wounded civilians, leaving the Japanese with an empty city.

At 8:30 p.m., the Second Regiment engaged in firefight with the vanguard of the Japanese troops, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Because it was dark, the Japanese soldiers were worried about being ambushed, so they took the initiative to retreat several kilometers. The guerrilla detachment also withdrew its main force into the mountains, breaking off contact with the Japanese soldiers. Both sides exercised great restraint.

To prevent the Japanese from retaliating against the local villagers, the main force of the guerrilla detachment continued westward, leaving only the Second Regiment to deal with them and cover the villagers' transfer to more distant places.

Meanwhile, the main force of the guerrilla detachment withdrew overnight to Qiaoqi, the second stop on the journey, leaving the Japanese pursuers far behind.

After daybreak, the Japanese pursuers still dared not make any rash moves. The annihilation of the 9th Infantry Regiment made them wary. Before they could ascertain the strength of the guerrilla detachment, they were cautious and sent a battalion to retake Jiangyin City.

At 11:00 a.m., the Japanese reinforcements met up with the remnants of the 9th Infantry Regiment. After learning about the situation, they became even more cautious.

To save face, Colonel Katagiri deliberately exaggerated the strength of the guerrilla detachment, and the reinforcement commander did not suspect anything.

The Ninth Regiment was the main force of the Sixteenth Division, but it was decimated in less than a day, and the entire regiment could not even form a battalion.

Even if Colonel Katagiri tells the truth, Colonel Nobuaki Ohno, commander of the 20th Infantry Regiment, does not dare to make any rash moves.

Colonel Katagiri said in a deep voice:

"The main force of the Chinese has all hidden in Huashan. The Third Battalion was lured into Huashan and ambushed there. We still need to be careful."

Colonel Ohno continued, saying:

"Katagiri-kun, the division's main operational focus is still Jinling City. This is a grand feast for the empire, and we cannot miss it."

The Chinese in Huashan are just a small force; there's no need to get entangled with them too much. We just need to use a large force to drive them away. What do you think?

Colonel Katagiri was eager to seek revenge on the guerrilla detachment, but Colonel Ohno was clearly not interested; his mind was entirely focused on the Nanjing campaign.

The main force of the Ninth Regiment had been annihilated, and he himself did not have the strength to do so, so he had to follow Colonel Ohno's orders.

After lunch, the 20th Infantry Regiment marched in full force toward Huashan. The 2nd Regiment, taking advantage of the favorable terrain of Huashan, did its best to block the Japanese and buy more time for the villagers to evacuate.

At this time, the 20th Infantry Regiment also discovered a mound of corpses made of Japanese soldiers. On top of it were the heads of Noda Takeshi and Mukai Toshiaki. The two were already famous because of the news of the "hundred-man kill". Colonel Katagiri was furious and vowed to kill Zhao Yunwen to avenge the warriors.

Colonel Ohno dismissively remarked:

"These are two idiots. It is because of their stupid behavior that the Third Brigade has suffered.

Zhao Yunwen left his name, which was a declaration of war against the 16th Division. If I'm not mistaken, their destination was Nanjing.

Katagiri-kun, if you want revenge, defeat them honorably on the battlefield of Jinling!

Colonel Ohno's words were tantamount to slapping Colonel Katagiri in the face, but he had nothing to say. He still had to hope that Colonel Ohno would speak up for him in front of Division Commander Nakajima Kesago, so he swallowed his anger.

"What Mr. Ohno said is absolutely right. I was short-sighted. Since the two sides will meet again in Jinling City, let's let them off the hook and settle both the old and new scores together."

"Yoshi, Katagiri-kun is the real samurai of Kyoto. If I'm not mistaken, the Chinese don't want to fight my tribe at Hanazono."

They just want to stall until nightfall and then quietly escape. We only need to maintain a certain offensive and confront them after dark. When the Chinese retreat, the Imperial Army will pursue and surely achieve a great victory!

Ohno's words were very eloquent, and Colonel Katagiri understood that he was just putting on a show for the division commander.

The initiative was in Colonel Ohno's hands, and Colonel Katagiri could only nod in agreement.

The subsequent attacks by the Japanese were all bark and no bite; there was hardly any actual contact between the two sides, and the fighting was like child's play, with casualties on both sides in the single digits.

The Japanese were wasting bullets all afternoon, but they captured most of Huashan. The Second Regiment orderly abandoned its positions to buy time.

Before we knew it, it had gotten dark;

The Japanese troops retreated several miles on their own initiative, breaking off contact with the Second Regiment, under the pretext of preventing a nighttime sneak attack.

After 8 p.m., the Second Regiment quietly withdrew from Huashan and, following the pre-arranged marching route, chased after the main force under cover of darkness.

At daybreak, the Japanese launched a general offensive against Huashan, and as Colonel Ōno had predicted, the mountain was deserted.

The Japanese soldiers occupied Huashan without bloodshed, and then reported their victory to the division headquarters, saying that after a day of fierce fighting, they had severely damaged a Chinese division, successfully rescued the 9th Infantry Regiment, recaptured Jiangyin City, and annihilated thousands of enemy soldiers.

The remnants of the Huaxia army fled north and requested to continue their advance towards Nanjing.

Lieutenant General Nakajima, seeing that the crisis in Jiangyin had been resolved and that the heavy losses to a Chinese division, amounting to over a thousand casualties, were justifiable, agreed to let them return to the main battlefield, ignoring the remaining Chinese troops.

After shaking off the Japanese pursuers, the main force of the guerrilla detachment set off from Qiaoqi, passing through Wujin South, Caoqiao, Yixing West, and Liyang, and arrived at Jurong and Chunhua in five days.

During this period, there was no further direct conflict with the Japanese. They reached the outskirts of Nanjing without losing a single soldier and then built defensive fortifications on their own. At this time, the main force of the Japanese was still dozens of kilometers away, and there was still some time before the battle began.

Two days later, the Second Regiment also successfully returned to the unit. Zhao Yunwen personally sent a telegram to Chen Cixiu to report the victory, which caused a huge sensation with the help of Commander Chen.

The guerrilla detachment successfully broke out of Kunshan and, after a 500-mile march, victoriously reached the outskirts of Nanjing. During this time, they also severely damaged the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 16th Division, killed two of the "Hundred-Man Killing Demons," greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese people, and swept away the defeatist shadow since the defeat in the Battle of Shanghai.

The Nationalist government's political department made a big fuss about it, and the Central Daily News reported on it for several days. Newspapers and radio broadcasts were filled with the names of the guerrilla detachment and Zhao Yunwen all day long, making them the most popular group for a time.

The Nationalist government also fulfilled its promise made in Kunshan and allocated two battalions of reinforcements to the guerrilla detachment. These were all elite soldiers drawn from the Training Corps, any one of whom could serve as a squad leader.

In addition, 200 people were selected from graduates of the Central Military Academy to support the guerrilla detachment, and they were given six months' worth of military pay and supplies.

In return, the guerrilla detachment was officially incorporated into the 18th Army's combat order, directly under the army headquarters, and organized as a Class A brigade, comprising three infantry regiments and a directly subordinate battalion, totaling approximately 10,000 men.

Zhao Yunwen was also promoted from Army Colonel to Army Major General, and was responsible for the defense of the Jurong and Tangshan line.

Subsequently, Zhao Yunwen received another military order, instructing him to arrive in the city within two days to attend a meeting on the city's defense military deployment.

Zhao Yunwen had no choice but to entrust the troops to Lu Ping and Xie Polu, while he led the reconnaissance company straight to the city defense headquarters.