"Let the 87th Division..."

In the hall of a factory building near St. John's University in Shanghai, more than a dozen radio stations were making beeps. The staff officers were walking with wind in their eyes. In front of a large-scale map of Songhu, Chief Zhang issued combat orders.

Now that the war has reached this point, the intentions of those "strategists" have been half accomplished, that is, the main force of the Japanese army has been attracted to East China, the international community has begun to condemn the Japanese army, and important factories in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River have begun to be relocated.

But as a price, under the Japanese giant ships and heavy artillery, the Fruit Army troops were rapidly disappearing at the rate of one company or even one battalion per hour, and the young lives were turned into blood and mud.

Literati were dismissive of this. In their eyes, some human lives were only necessary to achieve the freedom of the country and the nation. Of course, if they were allowed to go to the battlefield, that would be absolutely unacceptable.

Looking at the deployment of troops on the map, Commander Zhang frowned. After more than ten days of fighting, the government's advantage became smaller and smaller, while the enemy's advantage became larger and larger. The battle in the urban area fell into a stalemate.

The Chinese and Japanese sides began to compete for every house, every workshop, every road intersection, every wall, and even every pile of ruins. Fierce fighting broke out everywhere.

In some places where the battle lines are too close, soldiers from the two armies can even hear each other's breathing. In such harsh situations, the military quality of the soldiers determines the outcome of the war.

Fortunately, the 36th Division, 87th Division, and 88th Division under the Ninth Army were developed from the original capital guard troops. They are the most elite troops in the national army and have received strict training from German consultants.

Otherwise, there is no need to fight this battle. You must know that the Japanese Navy Special Marine Corps is a highly professional force. Every ordinary soldier has many years of service experience and has high technical and tactical levels.

At the same time, the Ninth Army's strength advantage was not great. After dispersing the limited forces into a complex city, how to plan each battle was the first thing the commander had to consider. Chief Zhang was exhausted mentally and physically.

"Buzz buzz~~"

Just when he was having a headache over the attack and defense of a key position, the faint roar of airplanes could be heard outside. The security guard who had been standing at the window looked over, his expression suddenly serious.

The next second, a second lieutenant quickly ran to Commander Zhang and pulled him outside. The other guards rolled up maps, binoculars and other items and followed behind. Commander Zhang was furious when his thinking was interrupted.

"What are you doing?"

"Sir, the Japanese plane is coming."

"If they don't come one day, let me go."

"This time is different. Sir, please come with us to the air raid shelter."

"Go evacuate the staff."

"We are only responsible for your safety, sir."

The second lieutenant ignored Commander Zhang's order and used all his strength to lead him out of the community house gate and towards the park not far away. Others in the community house seemed not to see this scene and continued to do the work at hand.

It wasn't until the roar of Japanese planes got closer and closer, and at the urging of the security forces, these staff members, who were highly skilled in the Republic of China, put down their headphones and phones, and lined up to evacuate outside.

They had just left the building when four heavyweight aerial bombs roared down from the sky. The turbine windmill fuses on the tail of the bombs spun wildly. Soon the safety was released and the fuses were ready to fire.

Ten seconds later, the aerial bomb with a plaster flag on it hit the concrete floor in the community courtyard. The firing pin hit the flash cap, causing the detonator to detonate instantly, and then detonated the main charge of the missile.

At almost the same time, three other aerial bombs also fell in the surrounding area, one of which hit the building. After a period of suffocating silence, several deafening explosions suddenly sounded.

Zuo Chong, who was far away in the public concession, was adjusting the sleeves of his shirt in front of the mirror. The coffee cup placed on the bedside suddenly made a clanking sound, and the chandelier above his head began to swing continuously.

Did the Japanese naval guns fire?

Zuo Zhong was shocked. This situation had happened several times in the past few days, so he quickly went to the window and looked outside. He found several smoke pillars rising from the northwest and several black spots hovering in the sky.

After roughly calculating the direction, he immediately broke into a cold sweat. That was the direction of the Chinese border, which was now in the hands of the government. If the army had no need to bomb their own people, it must be Japanese planes carrying out air strikes.

Currently, there is only one place where the enemy can use such a powerful bomb, and that is Commander Zhang's Ninth Army Headquarters.

But why would the Japanese know the specific location of the headquarters? During wartime, this was top secret information.

Not to mention the ordinary officers and soldiers who participated in the war, even he, the deputy director of the Secret Service in charge of intelligence work, had no grasp of it. All reported intelligence was forwarded through the Jinling headquarters.

Moreover, as the war progresses, the location of the headquarters will be adjusted from time to time to better command the frontline troops. Is there a Japanese spy around Commander Zhang?

After sitting down and thinking for a long time, Zuo Zhong looked at his watch, quickly put on his clothes, adjusted his expression, walked out of the villa, and drove a semi-old Ford sedan onto the road.

There was still a bustling scene on the street. Many people were discussing the previous explosion. Some said it was a Japanese warship that exploded, some said it was because the military arsenal was gone. Various gossips spread among the citizens.

.

Not long after, a shocking news spread. The headquarters of the Ninth Army of the Guo Army was attacked by Japanese air raids. Commander Zhang was killed on the spot. Public opinion was in an uproar for a while.

The Guo army at the forefront of the battle also knew about this, and their morale inevitably dropped. The Japanese took the opportunity to recapture many key points, and the balance of victory slowly tilted towards the Japanese.

Fortunately, Commander Zhang soon spoke to the outside world through the battlefield radio, asking the officers and soldiers not to believe the rumors, and stated that he had retreated before the air raid and was not injured, let alone killed.

In the ruins of a factory in Hongkou, dozens of soldiers with faces full of smoke squatted behind a bunker. Under the leadership of their commanders, they listened carefully to the voice coming from a small speaker.

"Brothers, I am Zhang Wenbai. The Japanese are at their wits' end and want to defeat us in this way. We must not be fooled by them. I order to continue the attack and completely eliminate the Japanese.

If I unfortunately die for my country, the command of the Ninth Group Army will be handed over to Commander Sun of the 88th Division. I will not fight until the last soldier is killed, and will never take a step back. Anyone who dares to disturb the morale of the army will be dealt with according to military law."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers immediately cheered and threw themselves into a new round of fighting with high ambition. The proud Japanese army was caught off guard, and the battle situation in Shanghai returned to its previous situation.

Commander Zhang, who put down the microphone, was silent for a while and asked the adjutant beside him: "What are the casualties of the military personnel? Immediately send people to the concession to find the best doctors. We must save the wounded."

"There were heavy casualties. The staff of the staff held on until the last minute. Half of them were killed, and most of the remaining half were seriously injured. 23 communication and guard personnel died, 42 were seriously injured, and more than ten were slightly injured." The adjutant lowered his head.

Commander Zhang, who had not had a good rest for several days and nights, opened his mouth and slammed the table: "What do the surrounding security troops do? The enemy must need ground guidance personnel to carry out precision bombing.

Is this how they protect the headquarters? Come here, kill the company commander who is responsible for the security work. It is not a pity to die for such a bastard who neglects his duties. Report to Jinling immediately and ask the Secret Service to send support.

We must find the leader of the Japs, otherwise this battle cannot be fought. By the way, it's best to send that man named Zuo Zhong. They say no Japanese spy can escape from him. I want to see if it is true.

real."

"Yes, Commander."

Following the adjutant's reply, a telegram flew to the Communications Office of the Military Commission in Jinling, followed by a series of internal phone calls to Qilu and the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.

The originally obsolete state machinery exploded with astonishing response speed during the war. In just a few dozen minutes, orders that would have taken several days or more than ten days to finalize before the war were quickly issued to the Secret Service.

Furthermore, Zuo Zhong left his residence and went to the electrical company where he had disguised his identity. He went out again before getting off work at noon, drove around Shanghai several times, and finally stopped outside a French restaurant.

"Sir, please come in."

Wu Chunyang, wearing a vest, stood at the door and greeted him warmly. He pushed the restaurant door open with his hand, welcomed him in with a smile, and handed him a note as the two passed by.

Zuo Zhong calmly sat down on the table facing the door, flattened the paper under the cover of the menu, and glanced at it.

I saw it clearly written on it: The headquarters of the Ninth Army was hit by an air attack. Find the Japanese ground guides. Urgent!

As expected, Commander Zhang's headquarters was attacked. Zuo Zhong casually ordered a steak. After the waiter left, he took out the cigarette case and took out a cigarette. With his right hand, he rolled the note into a roll and quietly wrapped it around the cigarette, then lit it with a lighter.

Take a deep breath.

The smell was really unpleasant, but he still pretended to enjoy it and blew out the smoke, gently flicked the ash into the ashtray, and glanced at the fully armed concession patrol team outside the store.

Since the beginning of the war between China and Japan, the concession area has been alarmed three times a day. The few troops have been dispatched to maintain public order, prevent espionage and eliminate traitors, and there are far fewer gangsters going around extorting money than usual.

The problem lies here, even in Taiping concessions. It is obvious that the security surrounding Commander Zhang's headquarters is on guard, and ground guidance must be carried out in an open area. As for the guards, it seems that this mission will not be easy.

After eating something casually, Zuo Zhong exchanged silent glances with Wu Chunyang, put the banknotes on the table and walked out. He decided to go to the air raid site first, maybe he could find some clues.

It is very difficult for ordinary people to go from the Chinese community to the concession, but it is relatively easy for concession personnel to go to the Chinese community as long as they have an official identity certificate.

Zuo Zhong was driving and saw many people sitting on both sides of the road along the way. He couldn't help but sigh deeply. At this time, the population of Shanghai was about three million, and the number of people who originally lived in the concession was 2.3 million.

As soon as the war started, nearly one million refugees fled to the concession from Nanshi, Zhabei and the surrounding suburbs. Only a small part of these one million refugees could temporarily stay in hotels and relatives' homes, while the other more than 700,000 people were sheltered.

in open space.

In the early days of the war, the infant care center run by the church received more than 200 abandoned babies in half a day, which shows how difficult the life of the refugees was.

It is better to be a peace dog than to be a troublemaker. This sentence is extremely suitable at this moment.

When the Indian patrol officer on duty in the distance saw the car approaching, he picked up his stick and drove away the beggars who were trying to beg from the car window. He bowed politely to Zuo Zhong in the car.

Zuo Zhong nodded slightly and stepped on the accelerator and left the road. As for getting out of the car to reprimand the other party, that was not what an intelligence officer should do. Kindness is a fatal weakness for intelligence officers.

It took him dozens of minutes to successfully approach the checkpoint. When he saw his American passport, the American officer leading the team solemnly stated that the Chinese border was very dangerous and it was best not to go there unless necessary.

In addition to sending regular troops to engage in head-on combat with the Korean army, the Japanese also found many local soldiers (retired soldiers) and expatriates to form so-called volunteer teams, which went deep into the Chinese border in disguise to sabotage.

In name, these people were cooperating in the war, but in fact they committed all kinds of crimes including killing and stealing goods. When they met a wealthy family, they rushed in, burned, killed and looted, causing several bloody cases.

Therefore, no place in the Chinese border is safe. When they see a car passing by, they are likely to rob it, regardless of which country the driver is a citizen of.

However, after Zuo Zhong repeatedly stated that he needed to repair the equipment, the officer still chose to let him go and gave him an American flag.

Although the current United States is not as powerful as the most powerful country after World War II, it does not dare to offend anyone, provided that it does not seek death.

Zuo Zhong did not refuse the other party's kindness. He smiled and hung the flag on the side of the car, and without hesitation drove into the Huajie area where gunfire continued.

Cars were driving on desolate streets, with broken walls and ruins everywhere. Some people who were reluctant to leave stood in the ruins, numbly looking for the remaining property or the bodies of their relatives.

The depressing atmosphere made people feel out of breath. Zuo Zhong speeded up without expression, until he was stopped near the bombing site by a group of soldiers calling themselves the 88th Division.

"What are you doing, documents?"

An officer without a collar insignia, his uniform covered with gun oil, blood and holes, pointed his pistol at the car, held the crooked M35 helmet on his head and asked loudly.

This is not because the army is in disgrace. Due to the rampant Japs sharpshooters, the troops entering the war zone have all removed obvious military rank markings and only rely on the badges on their chests to identify their rank, branch, affiliation, and position.

If we were really like those protagonists in later movies and TV dramas who wore colonel and lieutenant colonel badges and wandered around the front line openly, we would have to eat a meal in less than half a day.

The battlefield is the cruelest and most efficient school of survival, because everyone who can't learn it will die.

Zuo Zhong glanced at the other party's badge, slowly took out his ID and handed it over: "I am an engineer for a US-funded company. There is a machine in the factory on the outskirts of the city that needs repair. I would like to ask Mr. Officer to let me go."

"Factory? The factory has stopped working. There are no machines to be repaired. I think you are clearly a spy of the Japanese. Brothers, arrest them." The officer rolled up his sleeves and gave the order fiercely.

Several soldiers rushed forward without saying a word, pulled open the car door, and raised their bayonets shining with cold light. One of the soldiers moved too much, causing the Y-shaped cowhide strap unique to the 88th Division to slip from his shoulder.
To be continued...