A Chinese Story

Chapter 3: Late September 1937 血肉磨坊

 Hao Jia Shi(郝嘉实), while laying on a hay bale, looks up on the day broken sky, he looks up to see some sort of floating powered devices floating up in the sky, "What are those?", he asked himself, wondering if they were the same airplanes that bombed them earlier, in reality that was a large observation balloon employed by the Japanese army, to scout out Chinese positions for naval bombardment, meanwhile their fellow soldiers were trying to shoot them down using small arms, to little success, "Shi! Staff sergeant is gathering us!" Jiao yelled out to Shi, the Chinese were preparing their defenses as they had a numerical advantage to the Japanese, 3 to 1, however it is a common place in this war for the Chinese to lose a battle to attrition, as the Chinese were poorly equipped, only elements of the 88th division had substantial military training and equipment to fight off the Japanese, but soon their efforts would be in vain, meanwhile on the other side, Tanaka Yoichi and his battalion were awaiting orders from their sergeant major, as they were preparing to launch a sneak attack with the use of smoke grenades, with armored support coming with them in the cover of smoke, as dawn was beginning to break soon, on the other side of the front, the staff sergeant was organizing their assigned defenses of the town, the battalion were stationed inside the town square, as the Chinese knew this would be urban fighting once again,  Wei was given the light machine gun, "This is a Zb-26 Czechoslovakian light machine gun, your job is the most important one of all, as you will be the one to support  this side of the defensive line, your assistant gunner will be Shi, Shi you just wipe the iron sights and carry the extra ammo, now go to your positions.", ordered the staff sergeant, the 88th division however was busy making mortar placements around the city, and stationed a large type 24 heavy machine gun in a destroyed building near the defensive positions of our main characters, "Why are they first to do the action?", complained Shi, as he was jealous, he joined the NRA for action and adventure, for his English school teacher Mr. Robertson told him greatly exaggerated stories of the great war, that inspired Shi to join the NRA, in reality however, Mr. Robertson was actually trying to get him to join the British expeditionary forces instead, Jiao however was confused, "You joined voluntarily?", he asked, "Yes, however you can't quit, it's called desertion and is active military crime and you will be shot if you do so.", replied Shi casually, Jiao was now scared, he thought he could go back to his mother back in the village, however now he actually couldn't go back, as the Japanese were preparing to launch their attacks on the 300,000 strong Chinese stationed in Luodian, but then suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, a large naval bombardment happened, the Chinese expected this, but it was worse than the first ones, this time it was more destructive and explosive than ever before, now it was even accompanied by strafing enemy aircraft, Jiao Wei, and Shi saw the carnage that unfolded before them, bodies being blown up, soldiers losing their arms and legs, 2 friends were blown apart instantaneously together as they were exiting their trenches, one soldier was laying on the ground, trying to collect his entrails from his exposed stomach, it was a scene with gore and death combined, this was a normal sight to see in the Second Sino-Japanese war, soon the bombardment stopped, the airplanes were heading back, but that wasn't the end of the carnage, as Japanese forces were charging into the town, Shi and Wei were following orders, as they instinctively fired on the Japanese that were charging at them, the 88th division elements in front of them were all but decimated, as Jiao and the others fired from the trenches,  soon Japanese armored elements were now in the city, the Chinese hiding amongst the rubble and destroyed building were using sticky tar bombs to combat them, this slowly hindered the Armored support of the Japanese, but in the end their efforts were in vain, Wei and Shi were mercilessly firing on the Japanese charging at them as Wei pulled the trigger as fast as he can, while Shi was reloading and wiping the sights as quickly as he could, Jiao on the trenches was firing on the Japanese indiscriminately as well, just like his other fellow soldiers, in reality most of the soldiers in the battle would rather be in some place else, as many in the division were considering deserting, Staff sergeant and the other officers were firing using their C96 carbines and Hanyang rifles as well, in the end the armored elements came, in the next hours the division command told them to station themselves in the ruins of the destroyed town, and now they were hiding in rumbled remains of Luodian, just like every other division in the town ,they were now fighting in urban warfare, in room to room the Japanese would fight ferociously,  for every square inch of the town, soon after 2 weeks of grueling repetitive combat around their defensive sector, division command had order them to retreat into Shanghai proper, while the other parts of the division would be separated into other different towns around Shanghai, the remaining would stay and defend Luodian , Jiao and Shi would be stationed in Dachang, while Wei was part of the forces who would retreat into Shanghai proper, the 3 friends were emotionally traumatized, they were without a doubt changed by the experience, in their experiences, Jiao and Shi were fighting off the Japanese in a burned out building, Jiao was trying to push a Japanese soldier using the butt of his rifle, in reality he didn't turn his rifle to its butt, instead he stabbed him with the bayonet attached to muzzle, unlike his first taste of combat in Luodian, he was shocked as he had actually seen himself kill another man , meanwhile Shi was busy shooting down mercilessly the remaining Japanese in the building, after the experience, Shi went to comfort Jiao, "I didn't mean too." Jiao said after they escaped the building, his voice sounded broken, but he was holding back tears, Jiao knew what he did, his mother taught him not to kill other  people for it would tarnish their family name, "What do I do! How am I going to tell mother about my misdeed! She would be ashamed to know her son's a murderer!", he yelled out at the empty street, shooting a shot into the air, "Stop that you'll alert other Japanese forces in the area!", Shi angrily shouted, "You didn't tarnish your family's name you glorified it by killing your nation's enemy!", Shi said encouragingly to his friend, Jiao understood what Shi said, his killing was justified because he killed an enemy, not a friend or an innocent person, it was an enemy, and soon the pair escaped back into their HQ in the ruins, meanwhile in Wei experiences, he was assigned as their platoon's light machine gunner, he had the worse experience of all, as he was responsible for shooting countless Japanese mercilessly, "Hey kid, you alright?", asked a fellow soldier in the destroyed building they were in, "I miss my mother, I miss my buffalo, I miss my town." Wei said sorrowfully, it had been months since he had been back home, "I can drink to that kid." replied the soldier as he had found a case of Rum, back to the present, the three friends were split into the different groups, Jiao and Shi were placed into the group retreating into Shanghai, while Wei was placed into the group going to Dachang, in their last day in Luodian, the three would say their heartful goodbyes, "You promise we'll see eachother again." ,said Jiao, "Of course we're in the same division, we'll see each other in our hometown, Shi you'll love it there in our village, the scenery is great!, Said Wei joyfully, "Alright then, if its not compared to the rowdiness of Hong Kong, then I hope you'll take me there Wei." the three men had made a promise raising their warm glasses of water, "Cheers! We'll see each other soon!" they yelled together, by the early morning of the next day,  they retreated under night, as the division was now split into different parts of the outskirts of Shanghai, a few days later in September 30, 1937, after the division had left, Luodian would fall. 

Meanwhile back in Luodian, Tanaka Yoichi, was celebrating his first victorious battle, writing in his journal:

"September 30, 1937

I have finally accomplished it, I have gained honor for my family and for you father, as you eldest you shall expect nothing from me, as I have done what you have asked me to do, I shall return to Japan and tell you of my experiences as I have written them in this journal."

"I should ask lieutenant for a leave." he says to himself, in reality another soldier heard him, "Sorry Tanaka-san, but lieutenant said no leave until we reach Shanghai." the soldier said, "Are you serious this is absurd--" The soldier cuts him off, "Listen to me sir, I suggest you don't yell that, you do not want to end up like Jun (ジュン)." "But Jun was killed honorable by using a grenade to explode himself killing tens and hundred of Chinese soldiers." Yoichi said, "Do you think Jun voluntarily killed himself, for what?! A shiny medal his wife can keep as an heirloom?! He was coerced into doing so! He said something bad about the lieutenant, and that's why he was forced to kill himself!" reiterated the soldier, the soldier's name was Yoru Tenji (とじよる) he was a private 2nd class, lower than Yoichi, soon the duo would become great friends and comrades in the near future.