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

Despite his cursing, Zhu Dacai's reaction to the appearance of the Japanese was decisive: to survive, he first had to kill them.

There were at least forty or fifty Japanese soldiers in their line of sight, while the garrison only had about twenty men, under the unified command of platoon leader Li Zhian.

Zhu Dacai was assigned a Flower Machine Gun. This thing has strong firepower, but it also consumes a lot of ammunition. There are only four straight magazines, so you have to use them sparingly.

They had not received specialized training in urban warfare; their superiors had only one requirement: kill the Japanese soldiers!

The Japanese skirmishers were spread out in multiple columns, advancing with their guns at the ready and crouching low. Riflemen were in front, followed by machine gunners and grenade launcher teams, and they were extremely vigilant.

Li Zhian fired a shot, and a Japanese soldier fell to the ground. Zhu Dacai coldly shouted:

"beat!"

He suddenly stood up, pointed the flower-shaped weapon at the Japanese soldiers, and fired three bursts in quick succession, emptying the magazine.

After firing, he quickly rolled behind the rubble; the thin, broken wall offered no protection against the bullets. A seasoned veteran indeed, his movements were fluid and efficient; with his concentrated firepower, he took down at least four Japanese soldiers.

Zhu Dacai had just gambled with his life, and luckily he won; the Japanese retaliatory bullets sent dust flying from the broken wall.

Zhu Dacai breathed a sigh of relief. Having narrowly escaped death, he quickly changed to a new magazine.

By this time, the Japanese soldiers had reacted and were lying prone in the ruins exchanging fire with the defenders. Taking the initiative, Zhu Dacai and his men took down at least twenty Japanese soldiers with their initial burst of fire, bringing the two sides to a near tie.

Although the submachine guns were very powerful, they were not very accurate, so they could only be used as suppressive fire. When the Japanese soldiers did not charge, Zhu Dacai would stay hidden in the rubble.

Liang Xiong's combat experience was clearly inferior to Zhu Dacai's. He was armed with a short-barreled Mauser rifle and had not participated in the Battle of Shanghai. He was a new recruit after the 87th Division retreated into Nanjing. It was a miracle that he had survived until now.

He fired three shots in a row, but none of them hit their mark, which greatly annoyed him. The Japanese soldiers were too cunning.

They were all defeated soldiers captured by Zhao Yunwen in Xiaguan. They belonged to different units and had no coordination or training with each other.

Zhao Yunwen only told them that it was best to form groups of three and look out for each other, which was as good as saying nothing at all.

Liang Xiong didn't know how to cooperate with Zhu Dacai; only veterans could have a tacit understanding with each other.

Their opponents were from the 13th Infantry Regiment, also known as the infamous Yumoto Regiment, all seasoned veterans with excellent marksmanship.

As time went on, the Japanese gradually gained the upper hand. They were no longer satisfied with exchanging fire from a distance, but instead relied on skillful teamwork to keep advancing, and the distance between the two sides was constantly closing.

Zhu Dacai still didn't fire; he remained hidden, waiting for an opportunity to engage in close combat.

Seeing the Japanese soldiers closing in, Liang Xiong became very anxious and fired two more shots, finally managing to hit one of them.

Liang Xiong was so excited that he danced around, but his joy turned to sorrow when a grenade for a grenade launcher flew over and exploded behind him.

Shrapnel flew everywhere, and Liang Xiong's body paused before collapsing into a pool of blood.

Zhu Dacai merely glanced at them coldly, his face growing even more frosty, the veins bulging on his hands gripping the submachine gun. Another one had left; he couldn't even remember the recruit's name.

Too many people have died; names are superfluous to him. Perhaps Zhu Dacai will be the next to die.

Four Japanese soldiers charged forward, providing cover for each other. Zhu Dacai pulled out a grenade from his person and threw it casually.

He dared not show his face, throwing only by instinct. Under the cover of the explosion, he quickly straightened up halfway and swept a burst of bullets at the figure. Then he rolled to the side and back and hid behind another pile of rubble.

One of the four Japanese soldiers' combat team was killed and one was wounded. The other two were so frightened that they lay prone on the ground, and one of them threw a grenade.

Zhu Dacai moved in time and luckily escaped disaster; his life was so tough that even the most powerful demons would shake their heads in disbelief.

Gunfire continued to erupt all around. Of the twenty-seven men on Zhu Dacai's side, only fifteen remained, most of them hard-working veterans.

Twenty-two Japanese soldiers remained. As the attacking side, they suffered greater casualties. Lieutenant Hattori Yuichi was furious and embarrassed.

They are the best in the world, the Xiongben Brigade. Since landing at Jinshanwei, they have been invincible, fighting all the way from the coastline to the gates of Nanjing. When have they ever suffered such a great loss?

His squad was reduced to only twenty-two men!

"Baka yarou, tsukushikiri!"

Lieutenant Hattori had clearly lost patience and was urging his soldiers to keep advancing, completely disregarding the dozen or so Chinese men opposite him.

Behind them, the company commander was furious. The two infantry squads advancing side by side were blocked and suffered heavy casualties.

He then sent out a third squad to flank the enemy, but they were met with resistance again. Despite the desolate landscape, Chinese soldiers kept emerging.

Seeing the Japanese soldiers swarming towards him, Zhu Dacai disregarded his own safety and picked up his submachine gun, firing rapidly in short bursts whenever possible. However, lacking a fire selector, he emptied his 28 rounds in just four bursts. The effect was indeed quite good within a few dozen meters, killing two more Japanese soldiers.

Just when Zhu Dacai thought he was going to die here, gunfire like popping beans suddenly erupted from the Japanese flank and front, instantly reversing the situation. The Japanese were slaughtered, with only two or three escaping.

The arrival of reinforcements relieved everyone's pressure. These were troops that Zhao Yunwen had just organized. Although there was only one platoon, it was enough to deal with the Japanese.

Zhu Dacai plopped down in the ruins, panting heavily. It was good to be alive.

The fighting within the city continued intermittently, but as the Japanese advanced, the two sides became completely entangled in a fierce battle. There were no longer clear battle lines, and the size of the troops became smaller and smaller. Competition at the company and platoon level was rarely seen anymore; it was mostly the squad and team level that was being fought.

Zhu Dacai thrived, with only four men left around him, and under his leadership, they flourished. The submachine gun proved incredibly effective in the melee, and he killed far more Japanese soldiers than could be counted on two hands.

At the 6th Division headquarters, Tani Hisao finally noticed something was wrong, and his face turned very ugly.

Chief of Staff Kazuhiro Shimotsuke, a graduate of the Army War College, was quite knowledgeable and experienced. He said in a deep voice:

"Commander, the Chinese are engaging in street fighting with the Imperial Army. This isn't a spontaneous rebellion by routed soldiers; it's an organized operation!"

Hisao Tani took a deep breath:

"What?! Urban warfare! That demands a high level of tactical skill from the troops. Can a disorganized group of Chinese really be organized?"

Colonel Shimono first shook his head. He was an expert on China and knew the Nationalist army's organizational capabilities all too well. Let alone high-difficulty urban warfare, they couldn't even handle basic offensive warfare, which was unconventional.

"Division Commander, it's also possible that you were forced into this situation, and Zhao Yunwen was the one who started it!"

"You mean the Chinese Wolf? Well, looks like you've got some skills, but you're no match for the Kumamoto Division. Imperial warriors can handle any complex situation."

"Since we're going to fight in the streets, let the warriors of Kumamoto meet them! Send a telegram to each regiment, in units of platoons, to penetrate deep into the city, sweep freely, disregard all discipline, and kill every Chinese person in their sight! Let the Chinese bear the wrath of the Imperial Army!"

Tani Hisao overestimated their "military discipline." After entering the city, several regiments went wild. At first, they were able to maintain their company structure, but then they dispersed into small squads, and finally, in groups of three or five, they stormed into civilian houses and shops, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities.

During the looting, they were constantly harassed, and the two sides fought house by house and alley by alley, turning into a chaotic mess, and gradually slipped out of Tani Hisao's control.