Chapter 22: The First Battle

During the first few years after the Battle of Songhu began, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese troops was truly formidable, largely due to the high number of veteran soldiers who had undergone years of training. These veterans were mostly bearded, short in stature, but exceptionally sturdy; they were marksmen with rifles and ferocious in bayonet combat. Even when their junior officers were killed in action, they could rally the surrounding troops to continue fighting or execute an orderly retreat. As for why their combat effectiveness later declined, there were two main reasons: first, many veterans were transferred to the Pacific theater; second, during the long-drawn-out war, even more were gradually worn down by our side at the cost of several, or even ten times, their own numbers.

Although the twenty or so logistics soldiers were deeply unwilling, they had no choice but to remain at Position No. 7 under the orders of Division Commander Li, submitting to the command of the newly minted Platoon Leader Hu. Seeing the Japanese artillery bombardment gradually thinning out, it was likely that they would launch another attack at any moment. The bewildered Platoon Leader Hu had no choice but to bite the bullet; he hastily distributed the twenty logistics soldiers among himself, Wang Peng, and Zhou Kun, giving each about six or seven men. It was effectively a novice with only a smattering of theoretical knowledge leading a group of farmers armed with rifles.

He opened the supplies that the logistics soldiers had paid a heavy price to deliver. Inside the boxes were four crates of wooden-handled grenades, two crates of 7.92mm round-nosed bullets, and one crate of 7.92mm pointed-nose bullets. There was also a sack filled with small cloth bags, which supposedly contained comfort items donated by the citizens of Shanghai for the soldiers. One could only wonder what those pot-bellied officers in the logistics department were thinking. Sending a pile of this stuff at such a critical moment—wouldn't a ZB vz. 26 light machine gun and a few spare magazines have been more useful?

There was no time to see what was in the comfort bags. Urged on by the novice Platoon Leader Hu, the men grabbed their weapons and ammunition, then moved to their designated positions to lie in wait. As the sky began to darken, Gao Yi and Zhang Wei quietly crawled out of the trench and slipped into the "bean tank." Before crawling out, they had been instructed by Hu Biao: "Without orders, even if the Japanese walk right past you, you are not to open fire or start the engine."

The moment they squeezed into the tank, Gao Yi and Zhang Wei both cursed inwardly. The interior was coated in greasy lard and splattered flesh, and it contained the corpse of a Japanese soldier that had been scorched by hot oil, now emitting a sickening, savory aroma of cooked meat. Combined, these factors made them so nauseated that they almost vomited.

At the shout of "Officer Hu, the Japanese are coming!" Hu Biao gave a violent start. He carefully raised his head just enough to peek outside the trench. He saw about a hundred Japanese soldiers, likely two squads, stealthily creeping toward the position.

Instinctively, Hu Biao wanted to call for everyone to open fire, but at this crucial moment, Wang Peng clamped a hand over his mouth and whispered urgently: "Don't rush. Everyone's marksmanship is poor; let them get closer before we open fire with everything we've got."

Hu Biao might have been a novice who had never been in battle, but in truth, his mind was quick. He immediately realized the wisdom in this and even came up with a bolder idea. He issued a new order to his men: "Wang Peng, Zhou Kun, take two men each and fire your rifles; everyone else, keep your heads down. Get your grenades ready and wait for my signal to throw."

Under this order, only six Hanyang-made rifles opened fire. As expected, given the poor marksmanship of the novices at that distance, the sporadic gunfire hit nothing. Fortunately, this weak show of force convinced the advancing Japanese that the defenders had few men left, and they increased their speed and intensity. Under the suppressive fire of one Type 11 and one Type 96 light machine gun, the rest of the Japanese soldiers broke into a run, advancing rapidly toward the position.

When they reached a distance of seventy or eighty meters, and a shout of "Banzai!" rang out from the rear, they fixed their bayonets and charged. Finally, when they had charged fiercely to within twenty or thirty meters of the trench—and less than ten meters from the bean tank—Hu Biao finally roared, "Grenades!"

Then, the Japanese soldiers, who were about to breach the damned position and outflank the Nationalist forces attacking Luodian from the rear, discovered with horror that over twenty smoking grenades were arching through the air, raining down upon their heads.

During World War II, grenades were the poor man's artillery; this was no exaggeration. When over twenty wooden-handled grenades exploded in succession in front of the position, they immediately took down twenty-three or four of the leading Japanese soldiers. Among them were two soldiers with Rising Sun flags tied to their bayonets. These were typically squad leaders or non-commissioned officers—the elite of the elite. In normal combat, whether in bayonet duels or firefights, the Nationalist troops would struggle to take them down without losing two or three men of their own. It was doubtful whether the five novices, including Hu Biao, could have taken down even one in a fair fight. Yet, caught in the dense spray of shrapnel, these two short but sturdy and ferocious Japanese elites fell instantly. More importantly, this sudden and violent blow stunned the remaining Japanese soldiers.

And these grenades were merely the appetizer. The moment the grenades were thrown, Hu Biao shouldered his MP28 submachine gun and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Open fire! Everyone open fire! Zhang Wei, you can fire now! Kill these Japanese bastards!"

Amidst his shouts, a ZB vz. 26 light machine gun on the trench line, a submachine gun, twenty-one Hanyang rifles, and the light machine gun operated by Zhang Wei in the bean tank all opened fire simultaneously. At a distance of no more than twenty meters, and with the Japanese in a state of panic from the grenade bombardment, this burst of firepower yielded astonishing results.

In particular, Gao Yi started the bean tank and maneuvered it left and right. The closest Japanese soldiers were less than ten meters away, which greatly minimized the chance of Zhang Wei’s bullets going wide. Through the small firing port, Zhang Wei could clearly see, under his own sweeping fire, one Japanese soldier after another die in various ways. For instance, one soldier took a bullet to the neck, which tore away a large chunk of flesh and severed his arteries. Even though the soldier instinctively clutched his wound in terror, massive amounts of blood still surged through his fingers. The Japanese, who had been grinning hideously moments before, now collapsed in despair and horror, their ferocity gone. Another soldier took three bullets to the chest and was dead before he hit the ground.

Yet, as the perpetrator, Zhang Wei felt only gratification watching this; there was not a hint of the nausea or desire to vomit that one might expect from a novice killing for the first time in a movie. In short, after opening fire with everything they had, they killed or wounded over twenty Japanese soldiers in a very short time. It was as if an entire squad had been wiped out, a result that nearly matched what the Special Service Company had achieved after a long and bitter struggle.

Of course, this did not mean Young Master Feng and his men were incompetent. It simply meant that they had paid a heavy price to give Hu Biao and his team the opportunity to acquire this bean tank and launch a surprise attack that caught the Japanese off guard. However, the Japanese soldiers of 1937 possessed truly formidable fighting spirit and resolve. Even with over half their attacking force suffering casualties in a very short time, they fought to the death without retreating, as no withdrawal order had been issued by their junior officers or NCOs. They quickly adjusted and launched a counterattack, placing immense pressure on everyone in the trench, especially Gao Yi and Zhang Wei inside the bean tank.