Volume 1 Deserter's Bloodbath Chapter 1: The Stubborn Donkey
In August 1937, after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Nanjing Nationalist Government prepared to launch an active counterattack in Shanghai in order to change the invasion direction of the Japanese army from north to south to east to west in order to facilitate long-term combat.
As intelligence leaked, the Japanese Third Fleet entered the ports of the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River, and the Japanese Marine Corps and other troops on standby in Sasebo also began to reinforce Shanghai.
In order to seize the initiative in the war and eliminate the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements, Zhang Zhizhong's 9th Army issued a combat order to prepare to besiege the Japanese troops.
On the 13th, the war broke out and the Chinese army launched a full-scale attack on the enemy in the urban area of Shanghai. At the same time, the air force was dispatched to bomb the Japanese Marine Corps headquarters, Huishan Wharf and ships on the sea.
"Boom, boom..."
"Da da da……"
The bombing over Shanghai and the air battle between Chinese and Japanese fighter planes entered a fierce stage from the beginning. The Chinese soldiers who participated in the battle launched a fierce charge under the gunfire...
"Clang, clang..."
The Shanghai-Nanjing Railway had been completely requisitioned by the Nationalist Army since August, and various military supplies were continuously transported from the capital, Nanjing, to Shanghai to reinforce the troops in Shanghai;
"Boom, boom..."
A running train was desperately running forward in the midst of artillery fire. It could not avoid the artillery fire. The train operator just kept praying to the sky, hoping that the balls dropped from the Japanese planes would not hit them.
“Boom…”
“Boom, boom, boom…”
Unfortunately, things went against one's wishes. The railway track was hit by an aerial bomb and the train finally derailed. The train carriages that rushed out of the roadbed were scattered on the roadside. There was no wailing sound. It seemed that this was a freight train and all the train crew on board had died in the violent collision and explosion!
The derailed train was lying across the roadbed. Soon troops and civilians came to transport supplies. Workers began to appear beside the railway tracks, carrying various tools and began to work intensively to repair the railway.
"Hurry up, there are many trains waiting behind!" A man looked up in between work and shouted to urge the workers who were sweating profusely.
“Damn Japs!”
"Get it done quickly, and have the troops behind us rush over to drive all the devils into the sea!"
…
The workers vented their anger while working. Their only wish was to drive the Japanese out and stop them from causing trouble here!
Thanks to the emergency repair work of thousands of workers, the railway finally returned to normal after nightfall.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
"Clang, clang..."
The train whistle blew long and loudly, and the loud sound of the train wheels hitting the rails slowly approached. A train was emitting black smoke and approached quickly in the night...
The rails were shaking, and the heavy train was filled with stuffy carriages. No one knew whether they were filled with soldiers or supplies, except for the people on the train.
In the night, in the dark bridal chamber, cold flashes burst out from time to time, and intermittent huge roars continued to come. There, in Shanghai, the Chinese and Japanese sides were fighting fiercely...
The pillars of the Civil Engineering Department and Chen Cheng's direct subordinates, more than 600 people from the 11th Division's Death Battalion were crammed on a train that was whizzing past; this train was not dedicated to the Death Battalion, they only occupied six carriages, and more than a hundred people had to squeeze into the stuffy car. The cool breeze of early autumn kept blowing in from the gaps and vents. In the carriage, not only the air was stuffy, but also the solemn atmosphere.
All the soldiers sat on the floor, leaning against each other. There was a layer of dry grass on the floor. With the constant collision of the wheels and the rails, the brothers' bodies were shaking, but no one opened their eyes, as if they had already accepted their fate!
There are two kerosene lamps in the carriage. One lamp is hung in the center of the carriage ceiling. It sways rhythmically as the train moves, emitting a few dim lights that jump rhythmically on the carriage wall. The other lamp is placed on the wall in the corner of the carriage. Several people are sitting under the oil lamp, sitting cross-legged against the wall. This corner seems a bit special in the crowded carriage because it is relatively spacious.
“Crack!”
As a man closed the bolt of his rifle, envy appeared in the eyes of the people sitting around him.
In this low-light environment, it was not easy for this soldier from the Death Squadron to still clean his gun, not to mention that his speed in assembling the rifle impressed these people. In their hands, perhaps the time it took for this man to assemble three guns would take them to assemble one gun!
"Want a puff?" An officer with the rank of captain handed over his half-smoked cigarette to the brother who was cleaning his gun.
"No, you smoke it yourself!" The man who was cleaning the gun shook his head, held the rifle in his arms, leaned his head against the wall of the carriage and closed his eyes.
"Feng E, 22 years old, a student of the 1st Battalion of the 11th term of the Central Military Academy, from Panyu, Guangdong. He graduated from the Affiliated Middle School of Lingnan University in Guangzhou before entering the military academy. He is fluent in English. During his three years at the Central Military Academy, he became a top-notch boxing and kicking student. He was rated as an outstanding student with sniper talent by the German Military Advisory Group. He performed well during his time at school and finally taught himself Japanese..."
The captain stared at the brother who was cleaning his gun, and spoke to himself about the information he had obtained, as if he was reciting it.
"Captain, stop talking, I'm not a deserter!"
Feng Ezhen, who had his eyes closed, opened them, shook his teeth, and a deep and firm voice came out of his throat.
"Blat! Just call me Chen Sheng! In front of you, the principal's disciples, I am really not good enough as a company commander! You can even survive the crime of desertion, you really deserve to be the emperor's disciple!"
Company commander Chen Sheng smiled bitterly and put out the burning cigarette butt on the floor under the dry grass.
"Why don't you say anything? Explain? How did you become a deserter?" Chen Sheng raised his head and found that the person in front of him had closed his eyes again.
"What is there to say? You already know my information. I'm going to die on the battlefield anyway, and all I'll be is a corpse." Feng E said coldly, then closed his eyes, his head swaying slightly with the shaking of the carriage.
"Stubborn ass! I don't care about you. If it weren't for Commander Ye's special care, I wouldn't care about you. No matter how arrogant you are, aren't you still a soldier of the Death Squadron?"
Chen Sheng muttered to himself, feeling bored, and closed his eyes.
When the July 7 Incident broke out, the 11th Division was originally responsible for protecting and building the Pinghan Railway between Shaoguan and Hengyang. On August 5, the Military Commission ordered the 1st Division to gather in Baoding by train from Shaoguan, Chenzhou, Leiyang and other places. On August 13, after arriving in Wuhan, it was ordered to change its route and gather in Nanxiang, preparing to join the Songhu battlefield to fight the Japanese army.
The death squad on this train was a little special. They did not originally belong to any army. Most of them came from the Nanjing Military Prison. They were soldiers who had committed crimes in the prison. They formed this special death squad. Why do we say only the majority? Because the officers here came from the 11th Division. Rather than officers , they were here to monitor their operations. Because there were all kinds of people here, including all kinds of criminals. Because they were all veterans on the battlefield, they had the opportunity to return to the battlefield. The Military and Political Department asked them to atone for their sins. If they could survive on the battlefield and earn enough military merits, they could get rewards and promotions as ordinary soldiers!
