When Okawauchi Denqi led the independent tank squadron to the Bank of Communications warehouse, it was already past three in the morning.
Morita Taka took several squadron captains and staff members of the 10th Battalion to greet him in the lobby on the first floor. After the meeting, Okawauchi Denqi slapped Morita Taka in the face without any explanation.
"Hai." Morita Taka received a slap on the left cheek, and then brought the right cheek closer.
Okawauchi Denqi was not polite, and slapped Morita Taka more than ten times with his bow left and right.
Okawauchi Denshi refused to stop until his hands were swollen from the beating, and Morita Taka's face was swollen like a pig's head.
It can be seen that Okawauchi Denqi is really angry, and the reason is very simple, because the battle at the Four Elements Warehouse has embarrassed their special marines.
Although the previous four days of attack were in vain, at least the losses were not large.
But tonight, the situation suddenly changed. Not only did the casualties suddenly increase sharply, but in the end, two flat-firing infantry guns were even snatched away by the Chinese army, which was embarrassing to the international community.
Since the establishment of the Japanese Marine Corps, this kind of thing has never happened.
"Tell me." Okawauchi said coldly, "What's going on with the cannon team?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, the thing is like this. Since the ruins on the west side of Sihang Warehouse are completely under the control of our Marine Corps, this means that we will be able to launch an attack directly from the barricade in the southwest corner of Sihang Warehouse. , the attack distance has been greatly shortened, to less than thirty meters at most."
"The only threat at this time is the heavy machine gun of the Chinese Army."
"As long as the heavy machine guns of the Chinese Army are destroyed, they can launch a squadron-sized group charge towards the Sihang Warehouse. It cannot be stopped by just dozens of rifles of the Chinese Army."
"The Sihang Warehouse can be taken down in one go!"
It should be said that there is nothing wrong with Morita Takashi's tactical vision.
If the X factor of severity does not appear, the result will basically be like this.
"So, you thought of moving the flat-fire artillery position forward to the southwest corner barricade?"
"Yes, because only firing from the barricade in the southwest corner can destroy the heavy machine gun firepower of the Chinese Army."
"However, the Chinese Army took advantage of the cover of night to unexpectedly move its heavy machine gun forward to the southwest corner of the barricade, catching the flat-fire artillery team by surprise?"
"Yes, the China Army's move was indeed somewhat unexpected."
"That's because you are careless and stupid in underestimating the enemy!" Okawachi Chuanqi snorted, "Since the ruins west of Sihang Warehouse are already under the control of the Marine Corps, haven't you thought about sending a few secret sentries? What if? You sent out a hidden sentry, how could the artillery squad fall into the trap of the Chinese Army?"
Morita Takashi: "Your Excellency, Commander, I sent a secret sentry, and I sent two of them."
"Nani? You sent a secret sentry?" Okawauchi Chuanqi asked in shock, "The Chinese Army moved heavy machine gun fire from the cigarette shop in the southeast corner of Sihang Warehouse to the barricade in the southwest corner, but the secret sentry didn't notice it? Didn't they fire?"
"No." Morita Takashi shook his head and said, "They were probably killed by the Chinese army."
Okawauchi Chuanqi chuckled, and then said: "This is possible. Although the overall combat effectiveness of the China Army is weak, a handful of elites among them possess unimaginable combat effectiveness. The 128 Shanghai War five years ago Incident, the Imperial Navy has suffered losses from these elites.”
Morita Takashi: "Your Excellency, Commander, I have no intention to defend the failure of the 10th Group, but I still want to say that the small Chinese force on the opposite side is likely to have one or more elite veterans who are very good at night fighting. Not only can they You can find and kill our secret sentry silently in the dark night, and you can also shoot accurately in the dark night!"
"Nani? Accurate shooting in the dark?" Okawauchi Denqi's brows suddenly tightened.
After Morita Takashi launched the flare, he told exactly what he saw.
I have to admit that Morita Takashi, an old devil, has very reliable observation and inference abilities.
However, this inference was obviously unconvincing, and the other majors who followed Okawauchi Denqi immediately started ruthlessly mocking Morita Taka.
"Morita-kun, are you saying that the Chinese soldiers have night vision like cats?"
"In less than five minutes, you killed all the more than fifty marines of Asano's team? Are you telling us a fairy tale? Are those Chinese soldiers the reincarnation of tengu?"
"The story should be made more decent, right?"
"Please do not make excuses for the failure of the 10th Group."
Morita Takashi was silent. He also felt that his conclusion sounded false.
Okawauchi Denqi stared at Morita Takashi with gloomy eyes and fell into a long silence.
Logically speaking, Morita Taka stabbed such a big trouble and did something even more embarrassing than his predecessor Toshi Kitaro. Even Toshi Kitaro was forced to commit hara-kiri to apologize. Of course, Morita Taka had to commit hara-kiri.
The question is, if you make a mistake and have to commit seppuku, how many officers will be left?
Without officers, who will command the troops? Should the current battle continue?
After a long while, Okawauchi Denshichi said with a dark face: "Morita-kun, I will give you one last chance. After dawn, command the 10th Battalion to launch a general attack on the Sihang Warehouse. I will let the 2nd Tank Squadron coordinate the operation. This time During the attack, I hope you can realize your shame and then be brave, take down the Sihang Warehouse in one go, and then massacre all the Chinese soldiers inside!"
"Hai!" Morita Taka's inner gratitude is simply beyond words.
At this moment, Morita Taka had only one thought in his heart.
That is to capture the Sihang Warehouse no matter what.
…
At this time, in the ballroom on the third floor of the Chinachem Hotel on the Bund, gentlemen in suits and elegantly dressed dancers were dancing on the dance floor. Waiters in uniforms were passing through the crowd holding glasses of cocktails on trays. A hand, big or small, reaches over to take the cocktail glass from the tray.
Zhabei and even the whole of Shanghai have been reduced to ruins.
However, there was still singing and dancing in the public concession.
The men and women in the Chinachem Hotel were in a state of intoxication.
In a booth in a corner of the ballroom, a dozen foreigners were chatting.
"Lotov, I disagree with your judgment. The war is over."
"Whether it's the Battle of Songhu or the Battle of Sihang Warehouse, it's over."
"I also agree with David. This war is completely over, and there will be no more suspense."
"I admit that in tonight's battle, the small national army unit guarding the Sihang Warehouse did give us a surprise, but so what? In any case, they only have a platoon of more than fifty people and a machine gun, oh yes Yes, they just grabbed two flat-firing cannons from the Japanese, but what's the use of them? It's useless."
"Yes, the difference in military strength and firepower between the two sides is too great. This battle has lost its suspense."
"As long as daybreak comes, the Japanese army will definitely launch a general attack. By then, the national army in Sihang Warehouse will be finished."
Almost all Western military observers and reporters involved in the debate believed that the national troops remaining at the Sihang Warehouse were finished. The only exception was Lotov, the Soviet military attaché in Shanghai.
But Lotov did not start a debate with anyone else.
Sophia leaned into Lotov's ear and asked softly: "Why don't you refute them?"
"There's no need." Lotov spread his hands and said with a smile, "A philosopher once said that you should never try to convince others. No one can convince anyone, but facts can."
"Do you have so much confidence in the national army in the four warehouses?"
"Yes, I have confidence in them. They can hold on for at least half a month."
"Why?" Sophia tilted her head and asked, "Who gave you such confidence?"
Lotov said thoughtfully: "As a military attache of the Soviet Union stationed in Shanghai, I have been working and living in Shanghai for more than three years. During this period, I have been in contact with a large number of national army soldiers and more than a hundred officers. However, I have never I have never seen any Chinese army fighting like this one, and I have never seen any Chinese army officer commanding the battle like this man in Sihang Warehouse. I don’t say that this small Chinese army can It is absolutely impossible to defeat the Japanese army, but with the strong Sihang Warehouse and the combat supplies stored in the warehouse, there is no problem in persisting for more than half a month."
After a pause, Lotov added: "With good command, it is possible to hold on for three months."
