Rise From Eight Hundred

Ushijima Sadao sat blankly in the division headquarters built with logs, steel plates and sandbags, his face was unusually pale.

This should be the day that this Japanese Army Lieutenant General felt the most defeated in his 37 years of military service.

Yes, since graduating from the NCO school 37 years ago and entering the army as an infantry second lieutenant, he had participated in the glorious war against Russia, and was transferred to the Army University as an instructor and even promoted to lieutenant general and was assigned to the reserve. Even after entering China ambitiously, he encountered the biggest dilemma. A heavy artillery brigade following the division was attacked by the Chinese at night and was destroyed as a whole.

But none of these were as big as a seemingly extremely small psychological fluctuation this evening.

More than an hour ago, the scout responsible for the reconnaissance position came to report that there were gunshots and explosions on the Chinese flank, and it seemed that soldiers were gathering.

Under normal circumstances, Ushijima Sadao, the supreme commander of the 20,000-man army, would not pay attention to this news at all. That was something that the commanders of the regiments on the front line should pay attention to.

But the commanders of the Japanese brigades who heard this intelligence were extremely nervous at that moment. They ordered the front-line infantry to enter the trenches and wait for orders. As the highest commander, Ushijima Sadao himself also strictly ordered the front-line to send scouts to the flank of the Chinese defense line to closely monitor their flank military operations.

Until 20 minutes ago, the scouts from the front reported that the Chinese did not take any action. The sound of gunfire should be their internal test. As for whether it was a tester or equipment, the nearest scout was more than 1,500 meters away from their defense line. It can only be judged from the sound, and the real situation is unknown.

Ushijima Sadao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But then there was indescribable melancholy, or even pain.

When did the Chinese easily conduct personnel and weapon performance tests on the battlefield, while the great Imperial Japanese Army had to be as if facing a great enemy?

This subtle psychological change made Ushijima Sadao's face extremely ugly. He knew in his heart that this change was not due to anything else, but came from a lack of self-confidence.

A week of unfavorable offensives, coupled with the demise of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade, have cast a shadow over the hearts of the Imperial Army, which once cheered for victory and marched forward bravely. The two days of silence and the strict order from the Tenth Army Headquarters to the 18th Division to stay put are like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The military has already believed that the 18th Division alone cannot break the Chinese defense line. The confidence of the Imperial Army is gradually consumed in this lack of trust, so that from him down, the whole army is on alert like a frightened bird when hearing the gunshots of the Chinese.

It is extremely difficult for humans to admit that they are extremely weak, not to mention for a Japanese Army lieutenant general who once had a burst of self-confidence and wanted to make achievements in a foreign country.

Dare to admit your own weakness, it is progress, but the mood will never be too good.

For Ushijima Sadao, who has been sitting in the division headquarters for a long time, the only way to solve this sadness is to attack, rely on the power of the division to break the Chinese defense line, and rebuild the confidence of the 18th Division.

Ten minutes ago, he had telegraphed the Commander Yanagawa Heisuke of the 10th Army Headquarters, hoping that the 18th Division would restart the offensive tomorrow morning. According to the original plan of the 10th Army, after breaking through Jiashan, Jiaxing, Yibin, and Guangde and directly entering the Chinese capital Nanjing, it would join the 10th Army troops that were advancing to Nanjing along the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.

But unfortunately, he was rejected!

Yanagawa Heisuke quickly replied, strictly ordering him and the 18th Division not to act rashly. The reason was still that the Empire had lost the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade, and the Chinese were promoting their military exploits at home and abroad. The Army was ashamed and could not bear the consequences of another infantry division being severely damaged.

The 18th Division could launch sporadic attacks. Its role was naturally not to break through the opponent's defense line, but to contain the more than 20,000 Chinese troops that caused heavy losses to the Imperial Army in Jiashan, waiting for the Xicheng Line to be broken, and then part of the 10th Army bypassed Taihu Lake and attacked from front and back to annihilate them.

To put it bluntly, what Yanagawa Heisuke meant was that Ushijima Sadao and the 18th Division had no idea what was going on.

You led a heavy artillery brigade with nearly a hundred heavy artillery pieces and failed to deal with the opponent. You were almost cut off all your balls by the opponent's backhand. What else do you want to do? After attacking the other party's capital, you should be honest and be responsible for containment. Don't be beaten by the other party again.

Is it aggrieved?

As one of the core members of the 10th Army's conservative strategy of consolidating the Beijing-Hangzhou defense line regardless of the headquarters and choosing the radical tactic of splitting troops to attack the Chinese capital in two directions, Ushijima Sadao certainly felt very aggrieved.

It was agreed that each of them would be on one side, and after taking down the Chinese capital, the merits would be shared equally. Yanagawa Heisuke, who had made relatively smooth progress, now wanted to completely suppress him and throw the blame on him.

Of course, Ushijima Sadao knew that even though the idiot Ushijima Mitsuru had resigned, the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade's destruction was not over yet. Now it was wartime, and more than 200,000 Imperial Army soldiers were still on the battlefield. In order not to shake the morale of the army, no one moved him, the division commander who commanded 20,000 to 30,000 troops, but once the war was over, it was necessary to settle accounts.

Whether it was because he himself issued the wrong military order to transfer away from the heavy artillery brigade's guard infantry regiment, or because he had just been appointed as the commander of the newly reorganized 18th Division by a reserve general, he was almost certain to be the most suitable person to take responsibility.

The only way to pull him out of this quagmire is to lead the 18th Division to Nanjing successfully in the original battle plan to attack the Chinese capital.

But if Yanagawa Heisuke said that the 18th Division was only responsible for containment and waiting for part of it to bypass Taihu Lake to block the retreat of the Chinese in front of him, would he still have enough ability to lead the battle along the way?

The 6th Division is already dead in name only. The commander of the Kunisaki Detachment of the 5th Division, Kunisaki Shige, is only a major general, but there is still the commander of the 114th Division, Shigeharu Suematsu, who is a lieutenant general. Ushijima Sadao can almost imagine that Yanagawa Heisuke must send Shigeharu Suematsu and his men.

The 18th Division, which once had a great reputation as one of the "two pillars of the empire", is to be led by a special division. Even if he won military merits in this battle and does not have to bear too much responsibility, his reputation is completely destroyed, and the reserve force is beckoning to him again.

Don't tell me, Ushijima Sadao may have made many stupid moves on the battlefield and his command ability is slightly mediocre, but he has a great advantage that all Japanese generals on the battlefield cannot reach.

He has a clear understanding of himself.

You know, even in the past, under his command, the 18th Division broke through Jiashan, Jiaxing and Guangde, which was defended by the Sichuan Army, and successfully cut off the retreat of Nanjing. Because a certain Chinese supreme commander of Nanjing, who only knew how to brag, burned most of the transport ships to show his determination to live and die with the city, more than 100,000 Chinese defenders were slaughtered without a way to retreat, which made a great contribution.

But in this world, there are many cases of "you worked hard, but the credit goes to others". A senior worker who was waiting for a promotion and salary increase with joy became the commander of the public security army in Hangzhou after the war. It would have been fine if he was the leader of the "armed police" who maintained order in the occupied area. A few months later, he was simply discharged from active service because he was over 62 years old. He became a reserve and eventually became the vice president of the so-called "Imperial Veterans Association".

The fate of the unlucky child did not change with the difference in time and space. In this time and space where the little butterfly that traveled through time and space disrupted the situation, the fate of the unlucky child was even more tragic.

If he was not careful, he would not even be qualified to join the association, let alone become the vice president.

If he wanted to take his fate into his own hands, he had to do something instead of watching the dog rope tied to his neck tightening.

Ushijima Sadao, with a pale face, sat there for half an hour until the night outside the window was thick and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Send a message to Chief of Staff Kei Koto to notify Major General Ono Kamefusu, Major General Tezuka Shozo, Colonel Notomi Masanori, Colonel Fujiyama Saburo, Colonel Kataoka Kadotsugu, and Colonel Kokai Katamatsu to come to the division headquarters!"

The 18th Division has two infantry brigades under its command, with Ono Kamefusu as the commander of the 23rd Infantry Brigade and Tezuka Shozo as the commander of the 35th Infantry Brigade.

The other four colonels are the commanders of the 55th, 56th, 114th, and 124th Infantry Regiments.

It also means that Ushijima Sadao has summoned the seven core members of the 18th Division, who are also his diehards.

Obviously, if he wants to fight for his future, he must get the support of these people.

The dim lights of the 18th Division headquarters were not turned off until 11 o'clock in the evening.