Chapter 125: The Moment Of Shame In The Wuhan Battle
Grand World Entertainment City back door.
Two cars parked in an eight-character formation blocked the back door exit.
The ping-pong-pang-pang sound of ammunition exchanging fire continued incessantly.
Several trucks were blocked at the back door exit, and a group of thugs holding Hanyang-made rifles and pistols used the trucks as cover, continuously firing downward.
Zhang Zixian secretly lamented his misfortune; he thought hiding at the back door would let him pick up a bargain, but who knew he actually ran into a big fish.
The problem was that this fish was far bigger than he had imagined: five trucks, visually estimated at about four hundred cases of opium, and around twenty escorts.
The squad led by Zhang Zixian consisted of six intelligence group members and eight action team third squad members.
The action team members were fine; they had all undergone professional capture training, and whether in gunfights or capturing prisoners, they could coordinate tacitly in advance and retreat.
The intelligence group members were a bit lacking; everyone could only hide behind the back door cover like Zhang Zixian, firing cold shots when they had a chance.
However, there was still a gap in strength between the two sides; seeing that they were suppressed by the opponent and couldn’t lift their heads, Zhang Zixian was so anxious he was fuming.
If Zuo Mingquan didn’t send reinforcements soon, they definitely couldn’t hold them off with just these people.
At this moment, a black sedan quickly drove into the battlefield of both sides’ firefight from another direction.
Before Zhang Zixian could react, the sedan back door opened, and a figure was thrown out.
After completing this action, the sedan didn’t stop at all, rushing straight out of the back alley and disappearing from everyone’s sight.
“Pa pa pa.” Zhang Zixian subconsciously fired several shots at the figure, but the other party showed no reaction, lying on the ground like a dead dog, motionless.
At this time, some sharp-eyed thugs on the opposite side had already recognized the clothing on this person.
“It’s the boss, the boss has been killed.”
Huh? Zhang Xiaolin was killed by me? Zhang Zixian was inexplicably stunned; that figure like a dead dog was actually Zhang Xiaolin?
“Don’t, don’t shoot, we surrender.” Seeing that even Zhang Xiaolin had been killed, the opponents also lost the confidence to continue fighting.
They all put down their rifles and raised their hands in surrender.
Perhaps this was the power of slaying generals on the battlefield; it wasn’t without reason that ancient battlefields regarded first to climb the wall, seizing the flag, slaying generals, and charging into the enemy formation as the four major military merits.
And this slaying generals was known as the foremost of the four major military merits; once the enemy commander was killed on the spot, this feeling of psychological collapse would quickly affect the soldiers’ morale.
Zhang Xiaolin was equivalent to the commander among this group; once he died, these people had no reason left to fight desperately for. So, they surrendered very straightforwardly.
After the black sedan left the back alley, it stopped under a civilian house not far from Grand World Entertainment City.
Lin Huaibu stepped forward and knocked on the civilian house door; the person inside cracked it open, vigilantly looked out, then opened the door.
Lin Huaibu walked into the civilian house, clasped his fists toward Liao Ruyuan sitting at the head, and said: “Elder Brother Liao, the matter is done, Zhang Xiaolin is dead.”
That’s right, these people holding Type 14 Submachine Guns were the ones recruited by Lin Xueyi from Sixteen Rows Wharf.
The leader was Liao Ruyuan, and this Lin Huaibu was also a subordinate brought by Liao Ruyuan.
Not only him, even the unfamiliar faces brought by Song Zushan were all Liao Ruyuan’s subordinates.
This killing scheme had been laid out as early as the day Zhang Xiaolin wanted to fight Zuo Mingquan.
The next day, Shanghai, Southern Transportation Department Third Section.
Chen Yang looked at the newspaper that Li Ningyu had just delivered, his corner of the mouth almost hooked into a smirk.
On the “Declaration” newspaper of July 1, Year 27 of the Republic, the most eye-catching was this report.
《Nanjing Special Affairs Office seizes over four hundred cases of opium at Grand World Entertainment City, Shanghai tycoon Zhang Xiaolin killed by thirteen gunshot wounds》.
Sure enough, Liao Ruyuan was much more reliable in handling affairs than Lin Xueyi.
With Zhang Xiaolin dealt with, now it all depended on Shen Xing Shan; as long as he could handle Zhang Xiaolin’s Six Vajras subordinates, Chen Yang’s layout in Shanghai could be smoothly completed.
Shanghai Wharf plus Zhang Xiaolin’s territory meant at least half of Shanghai would be under Chen Yang’s control…
“Hua la la.” A burst of noisy applause and excited shouts rang out from outside, soon interrupting Chen Yang’s thoughts.
Chen Yang pushed open the office door and found the sound coming from the First Section direction. Before Chen Yang could ask, Secretary Li Ningyu quickly walked over with a press release.
“Secretary Li, what happened? Why is Section Chief Matsushima and the others so happy?”
Li Ningyu handed the notice in her hand to Chen Yang and said: “Officer, the sixth division Itai Detachment captured Madang Fortress the day before yesterday.”
“Section Chief Matsushima’s First Section received timely transportation and was commended in a notice by Expeditionary Army Headquarters; they are celebrating.”
Chen Yang’s heart sank as he took the notice, which detailed the battle situation of the Itai Detachment capturing Madang.
After reading it, Chen Yang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: there really were an unusually high number of pig teammates in the Blue Army camp.
Madang Fortress was the Blue Army’s proud creation, built by investing countless resources.
As soon as the fighting on the Wuhan side began, the Blue Camp Unified Warfare Department and Defense Department held countless meetings on Madang defense issues.
All departments unanimously agreed that “Madang defense is the top priority of the great War of Resistance; its fortifications, gun positions, and troop defenses should be specially supervised and arranged by the Military Affairs Bureau without delay.”
To prevent the Navy Third Fleet from advancing up the Yangtze River, the Military Affairs Bureau ordered the blockade of the Yangtze River surface at Madang Fortress; not only were thousands of landmines laid on the river surface, but some old gunboats and fishing boats were also sunk in place to form artificial reefs, blocking the Navy Third Fleet from advancing westward.
It had to be said that after investing so much effort, Madang Fortress was indeed as indestructible as simulated by the Military Affairs Bureau.
Since the war began, the Japanese Army had repeatedly dispatched airplanes and naval guns to bombard Madang Fortress wildly, but with minimal effect.
The main reason, besides Madang Fortress being indestructible, was that its geographical advantage was extremely favorable for defense.
As long as the Blue Camp defenders shrank into the fortifications, naval guns and airplanes basically couldn’t deal fatal blows to the fortress.
This turtle-shrinking rogue tactic made the attacking Itai Detachment suffer immensely.
After several days, not only had they achieved no progress, but they also lost quite a few warships.
According to the battle report sent back from Madang Fortress, the Military Affairs Commission even naively thought that with Li Yunheng’s strength, they could at least hold the Japanese Army for more than a month, or at worst half a month, providing ample preparation time for the Wuhan battlefield defense.
But the reality was that the Japanese Army launched a full-scale assault on June 24, and by June 29, Madang Fortress had changed hands.
The time in between was less than a week.
Logically speaking, for a fortress of this level, let alone a proper military academy graduate officer, even if you put a pig there, it shouldn’t be lost in less than a week.
In fact, Madang Fortress was indeed indestructible, but it was entrusted to the wrong person; such a powerful Madang Fortress was actually handed over to a pig teammate.
Li Yunheng, from Zida Tou Village, Bashatou Township, Lishi Bay, Ningyuan County, Hunan Province, Jiangfang Madang District commander.
After the Wuhan War broke out, Sixteenth Army Army Commander Li Yunheng was ordered to lead his troops to garrison Peng Lake, Madang, and the Dongliu line.
At that time, the Sixteenth Army had three divisions and one brigade under its command, plus Marine Corps and artillery regiment, totaling over 30,000 men.
Li Yunheng’s mission was to hold the Xiangshan and Huangli Shu positions firmly.
After the troops were stationed, Li Yunheng followed the Military Affairs Bureau requirements, building defensive fortifications in batches, and dispatched one regiment to deploy at Huayang and Wangjiang to attack the Japanese Army’s landing troops, cover the fortress, and prevent enemy ships from breaking through.
The superior’s requirement was to use the full strength of the army to hold the enemy for at least half a month.
Judging from the current defensive mode, this task was a piece of cake for the Sixteenth Army, which held the advantage of terrain and timing.
Yet, this easy task was botched by him in less than a week.
And the reason was ridiculously absurd.
Li Yunheng studied at the Baoding Military Academy accelerated class in Year 8 of the Republic and stayed on as an instructor after graduation.
This man had little ability but an extremely strong vanity.
Just as he took office as Sixteenth Army Army Commander and took over Madang Fortress defense, he even had time to set up a 《Anti-Japanese Military and Political University》 and appointed himself principal.
Not only that, he boasted everywhere that Blue Army had army commanders aplenty, but how many were called principal?
If you like being principal, that’s your business, but this guy was simply a pig brain.
With a great enemy at hand and the Japanese Army attacking, he still specially ordered officers above company level in each district to go to the Military and Political University for training.
It was this move that led to the soldiers in the Xiangshan area being caught completely unprepared and without orders when attacked, scattered like sand.
In less than a day, they consecutively lost the Xiangkou and Xiangshan positions.
After the Japanese Army occupied Xiangkou, Madang Fortress was attacked from both front and rear, and with no reinforcements, the Madang Fortress originally planned to hold for a month fell into Japanese hands from June 14 when the war began to June 29, not even a full week.
Of course, this couldn’t avoid mentioning another pig in the Blue Army camp…
167th Division Division Commander Xue Weiying.
On June 24, when Madang Fortress was under attack, the defenders couldn’t contact Li Yunheng and immediately sought help from Commander-in-Chief Zhang Fakui.
On June 26, Zhang Fakui ordered 167th Division Division Commander Xue Weiying to lead troops to reinforce, but this guy, to arrive at the battlefield early, arbitrarily decided to take a small road.
However, this pig seemed to have underestimated his own sense of direction; the troops that set out on June 26, only a few kilometers from Madang, actually got lost.
A division commander got lost on the reinforcement route? Such a ridiculous thing actually happened to a Blue Army division commander; it sounded like a tall tale, but it was fact.
By the time he led the troops to arrive, Madang Fortress had long been lost.
And the principal at the Wuhan temporary war preparedness command center, seeing that Madang Fortress, which he had spent three years and countless funds and effort building, was lost in this way, was so angry he cursed “motherfucker.”
In the end, 167th Division Division Commander Xue Weiying was executed by firing squad on the front lines, and Sixteenth Army Army Commander Li Yunheng was relieved of duty and investigated.
Even with strict military law, it was all too late; one could say that at the beginning of the Wuhan Battle, the Blue Army had already lost miserably.
Ding ling ling, ding ling ling, a telephone bell rang; Chen Yang irritably tossed the press release aside and picked up the phone.
Aisha’s voice came from the other end: “Chen Yang, are you free this afternoon? I’ve already selected the office; do you want to come take a look?”
