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

At the 16th Division headquarters, Nakajima Kesago, after receiving Sasaki Toichi's telegram requesting reinforcements, broke down in his defenses again and cursed the soldiers as useless.

Ever since he faced Zhao Yunwen's guerrilla detachment, Nakajima Kesago's resolve has been crumbling, and nothing has gone smoothly for him.

Chief of Staff Mitsuo Nakazawa has been busy these past few days, gathering information about the guerrilla detachment and Zhao Yunwen. The more he learns, the more shocked he becomes.

"Your Excellency, this Zhao Yunwen is a very troublesome character. The 11th Division, the 9th Division, and the 101st Division have all suffered heavy losses at his hands. Especially the 9th Division, whose headquarters was reportedly attacked, resulting in the loss of a large number of artillery pieces. This is also the reason why the guerrilla detachment has such strong firepower."

Nakajima, that old devil, finally found a scapegoat and cursed loudly:

"Baka yarou! This is aiding the enemy! The 9th Division, a bunch of useless trash, dares to call themselves a martial arts division; they've completely disgraced the Imperial Army!"

"I want to file a complaint against them with His Highness the Prince!"

Nakazawa Mitsuo chose to remain silent. The division commander could criticize the Ninth Division, but he couldn't respond; doing so would only invite hatred if word got out.

After venting his anger, Nakajima Kesago felt much better and then got down to business:

"Have you figured out the organizational structure of the guerrilla detachment?"

Nakazawa Mitsuo quickly replied:

"The guerrilla detachment was originally a local security regiment, which was later upgraded to a Class A brigade. It was under the command of the 18th Army of the Central Army, and consisted of three infantry regiments and one artillery battalion, equipped with twelve cannons, with a total strength of about eight thousand to ten thousand men."

Before defending Jurong, they fought fiercely with the 101st Division for several days in Kunshan City. Although they captured the 101st Regiment's flag, they also suffered heavy casualties. Intelligence estimated that their strength should not exceed seven thousand men.

"You idiot! Are you saying that 7,000 men held off the attack of two Imperial Army infantry brigades? Is it because my 16th Division is too useless, or because the guerrilla detachment is too strong?"

Colonel Nakazawa felt immense pressure; beads of sweat appeared on his neck. He forced himself to speak:

"General, we must admit that the reputation is well-deserved. The guerrilla detachment is far more troublesome than we imagined, and we must learn from the lessons of the Ninth Division."

Colonel Nakazawa's words were cleverly chosen, and Nakajima Kesago decided not to pursue the matter further. Having already made up his mind, he said sternly:

"Transfer 5 men from the supply regiment, replenishment unit, and engineer regiment to support the front lines. Tell them that the division headquarters has no spare personnel, and His Highness's patience is limited. Jurong must be breached within three days, and the guerrilla detachment must be annihilated!"

Colonel Nakazawa gave a "heh" and left to accept the order. With these 5,000 reinforcements, the combat strength of several regiments would be quickly restored, while the guerrilla detachments would dwindle with each battle. With the balance of power shifting, defeating them would only be a matter of time. He could say that he had given Sasaki Toichi a satisfactory explanation.

On the main battlefield of Jurong, taking advantage of the ceasefire, Zhao Yunwen retrieved a portion of Japanese-made artillery shells from the system warehouse and spent 6 contribution points to exchange for several thousand mortar shells to replenish the troops. This time, it was disguised as supplies sent by superiors, which was plausible on the surface, and his account balance was 908000 points.

The guerrilla detachment now has enough artillery. As long as there is enough ammunition, Zhao Yunwen is confident that he can fight the 16th Division to the death.

Xie Polu came over with a gloomy face to report:

"Commander, those Japanese devils are truly despicable. The reconnaissance battalion (which has been upgraded) has sent word that several thousand Japanese soldiers are heading towards Jurong. They should be reinforcements from the 16th Division."

Zhao Yunwen had already discovered that with the mini-map, the Japanese troop movements couldn't be hidden from him at all; he just had enough troops to stop them.

Zhao Yunwen waved his hand and said:

"Just a few thousand replacement soldiers. These are the blood and bones of the 16th Division. They will be exhausted sooner or later."

Our regiment still has two infantry battalions that haven't moved much, so we're not afraid even if the Japanese have several thousand more men.

Send a telegram to Luping, ordering the remaining reinforcements from the training corps to be sent over. The Japanese are going to launch a major attack; we'll fight them to the bitter end!

Both sides used the ceasefire to redeploy troops, replenish supplies, evacuate the wounded, build up strength, and bury the fallen soldiers.

As usual, the guerrilla detachment only allowed them to take away the corpses; the equipment and supplies were considered spoils of war and were collected by the Second Regiment after dark.

After receiving 5,000 reinforcements, the Japanese 9th, 20th, and 33rd Regiments regained 90% of their combat strength. Only the 22nd Field Artillery Regiment was temporarily unable to recover, leaving it with only a dozen or so artillery pieces.

Sasaki Toichi straightened his back again and launched another fierce attack on the guerrilla detachment's position. The 22nd Field Artillery Regiment bombarded the central position, and the artillery battalion immediately counterattacked. The two sides fought fiercely.

Before the Japanese artillery bombardment, the 2nd Regiment was ordered to abandon the first line of defense and lay a large number of anti-personnel mines on it. Most of the shells landed on the first line of defense, destroying some of the anti-personnel mines, but the 2nd Regiment suffered almost no casualties.

After the artillery barrage was completed, the Japanese infantry began their assault. The focus of this attack was on the central and southern routes. The mountainous terrain on the northern route was not suitable for deploying troops, so only a large battalion was sent to launch a feint attack.

The central riverside plain runs east-west, sloping from east to west, extending all the way to Jinling City. It is 800 to 500 meters wide from north to south and about four kilometers deep, with three lines of defense.

Previously, the Japanese were blocked in front of the first line of defense. After receiving reinforcements, they concentrated their artillery fire and bombarded the first line of defense, almost flattening the trenches.

Then, more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers from the 33rd Regiment surged toward the defending troops' positions in several echelons, each carrying a sandbag on their shoulder, and some even using mules to pull carts full of sand.

When they reached the anti-tank ditch, they filled it with sand, repeating this process until the ditch was filled in, thus opening up the path for their attack.

To the Japanese soldiers' surprise, the garrison did not fire, letting them do as they pleased. This unusual behavior cast a shadow over Colonel Noda's mind.

The Japanese soldiers at the front didn't have that kind of mindset. After filling in the trenches, they charged forward with shouts and quickly reached the first line of defense, which was still quiet.

The battalion commander leading the charge brandished his saber and shouted:

"Warriors, the cowardly Chinese have already run away, charge!"

The Japanese soldiers' morale soared, and they swarmed into the defending army's positions like ants. They attacked continuously for three days, suffering countless casualties, and finally achieved their goal. Next, they could take advantage of the high ground to attack Nanjing.

The Japanese soldiers, rifles raised high, cheered wildly on the position. But their jubilation turned to tragedy when someone detonated an anti-personnel mine, instantly swallowing up several unfortunate men.

As the explosions continued, the Japanese soldiers realized something was wrong, and one officer, finally understanding, shouted:

"Landmines! Get back down immediately!"

"Boom boom boom..."

"Boom boom boom!"

Rows of shells rained down from the sky, and tongues of fire shot out from the depths of the battlefield. Japanese soldiers fell one after another, and in a short while, the battlefield was filled with corpses lying haphazardly.

The Japanese soldiers could only take cover on the spot, jumping into the broken trenches to avoid the hail of bullets, which in turn detonated the landmines buried inside.

"Baka yarou, there's an ambush! Reverse course!"

Some people took the lead in fleeing, and others followed suit. The rout spread like a plague, eventually leading to a complete collapse.

"You idiot! Coward! A disgrace to the Imperial Army!"

"A disgrace to the Empire! Open fire—kill these cowards!"

Colonel Noda broke down, his eyes flashing with ferocity, wishing he could kill all the routed soldiers. These newly recruited soldiers had a far lower fighting spirit.

Miyamoto Shunsei ran in the lead. His original name was Park Junsei. He was from South Korea and worked as a supply soldier. He secretly changed his surname to Japanese.

He wasn't originally qualified to fight in the infantry regiment, but Nakajima Kesago made an exception and gave them this opportunity.

He hid at the back during the charge, but now he was running faster than anyone else to escape. Just when he thought he had escaped, several long tongues of fire spewed out from in front of him.

Many Japanese soldiers were hit and fell. Miyamoto Shunsei was dumbfounded, but luckily he reacted quickly and rolled into a shell crater.

After dozens of fleeing soldiers were killed, they finally realized that retreating meant certain death!

The routed soldiers could only turn around in a panic and advance shakily. Miyamoto Shunsei had escaped with his life and harbored a deep hatred for the Chinese. Once he entered Nanjing, he would celebrate wildly.

Seeing that there was no way to retreat, the Japanese officer brandished his saber and shouted:

"Thrust, thud!"