Others show their swords, I show my missiles!

Some readers may be wondering, why was Shimen, a big city that later developed into a provincial capital, only garrisoned by one division of Japanese pirates at that time? Plus the troops stationed outside the city, was this enough?

Hidden behind this is a little-known historical change.

Shimen, formerly known as Shijiazhuang Village, covers an area of ​​only 0.1 square kilometers and did not even reach the scale of a township.

It was not until 1925 that several neighboring villages merged and officially became known as "Shimen". At that time, it was just an obscure town that few people knew about.

However, with the construction of the railway, the importance of Shimen's geographical location gradually became apparent.

It is no longer that unknown small town, but has become a transportation hub connecting major cities in the North China Plain.

After decades of development, by the period described in this book, the urban area of ​​Shimen was only 9 square kilometers, and it did not even have a city wall.

In October 1937, Shimen unfortunately fell into the hands of Japanese pirates.

Faced with this strategic location, the Japanese army was well aware of its importance, so they planned and designed Shimen as a military city.

They abandoned the traditional form of city walls and instead adopted the method of digging underground city walls, which the local people called "blocking ditches."

These blockade ditches formed a rectangular military city, which not only met the needs of military defense but also facilitated strategic deployment.

But this is not a real wall.

Therefore, Shimen was just a small city at that time, and the deployment of a division of troops here was enough to show the importance the Japanese attached to Shimen's strategic position.

Although Shimen was not large at the time, its geographical location was extremely important.

It is located in the hinterland of the North China Plain and is the intersection of the Pinghan, Zhengtai and Shide railways, connecting Qi, Lu, Shanxi, Henan and Beijing.

It can be said that Shimen is an important transportation hub in North China, and its strategic value is self-evident.

Because of this, once our army captured Shimen, it would be able to return to Shanxi Province in the west, connect with Qi and Lu in the east, reach Peking in the north, and go south to Henan and Hubei, thus opening up the transportation network in North China and providing strong support for the anti-Japanese war.

Therefore, the Japs were absolutely unwilling to give up Shimen.

They were determined to defend this strategic location at all costs.

However, facing the fierce offensive of our 1st Armored Column, the Japs were clearly overwhelmed.

They were beaten back step by step and could only rely on their strong fortifications to put up a stubborn resistance.

The communications soldier of the North China Front Command held the communicator tightly, his brows furrowed. The order was like a heavy stone, pressing on his heart.

It was well aware of the importance of this order, but it also helplessly realized that it could not be delivered directly to the brigade commander who was supposed to be in command - Shinji Utsumi.

"Reporting to the Commander, we are unable to contact the commander of the Rotten Wood Brigade!"

Yamamoto Neiji sighed, "This rotten wood Shinji is simply a rotten wood that cannot be carved! Contact the captains under him and let them go to their brigade commanders."

The disappearance of Masahiro Kushiro not only made the situation on the front line more confusing, but also filled Yamamoto Ningji's heart with confusion and worry.

And hundreds of miles away, Kushiro Masahiro was in the midst of an unprecedented psychological storm.

He should have been in the solid underground fortification, commanding his soldiers with a cool head and firm will to deal with the upcoming battle.

However, a moment of greed, like an invisible chain, bound him tightly to the seemingly comfortable soft bed.

When deciding to leave the underground fortification, perhaps Shinji Ushio still had a glimmer of hope in his heart.

It believed that it was protected by the locusts from heaven and would not be in any danger.

I had only heard about the fierceness of the PLA's artillery fire, but had never experienced it myself.

"How is this possible! Even the Omanrik has no weapons, how can the Eighth Route Army have them?" Ranmu Shinji's impression of our army still remains the same as two years ago.

However, when Li Yunlong's Iron Flow Field Army launched a general attack like a tiger descending from the mountain, with artillery fire everywhere and deafening the ears, it was suddenly awakened to realize that the legendary artillery fire was actually real!

At that moment, Shinji Kushiro's heart was filled with fear and regret.

It regretted its rash decision and regretted not staying in a solid underground fortification.

However, regret was of no avail, as the artillery fire ruthlessly devoured everything around him, suddenly pulling him back to reality from his dream.

Under the loyal protection of the guards, Kushiro was pulled back from the brink of death.

The guards lifted it off the bed and dragged it out of the room.

However, it was not safe outside either, with shells falling everywhere.

The guard looked around in the light of the fire, searching for a safe place, and suddenly discovered a square black pit in the corner.

The guards were overjoyed and didn't have time to think too much. They kicked Ranmu Shinji in and turned around to rescue other senior officials.

This is actually the manure pit behind the pigpen.

The pig pens in this area are often connected to the toilets, so human feces and pig feces, as well as straw and other things, can be mixed and fermented into excellent fertilizer under the trampling of pigs.

It was winter now, so the smell wasn't that strong, but it was enough to make Ranki Shinji understand where this place was.

In that cold and damp corner, Kushiro felt unprecedented humiliation and despair.

It huddled in the manure pit, the biting cold penetrating its thin pajamas and piercing its bones.

It didn't dare leave because the artillery fire was still roaring and the flame of life was swaying on the brink of death.

It was not until the sky turned pale and the sound of artillery fire gradually subsided that the half-frozen Ranmu Zhenci finally mustered up the courage and carefully climbed out of the pit.

It went into the room, got a piece of clothing, covered itself with it, then put on a quilt, and fled in a panic.

At that moment, its heart was filled with a desire for safety, yet it was also filled with resentment towards the soft bed that it had once coveted.

For Kushiro Masahiro, this night was as long and painful as a nightmare.

It fled in a panic among the ruins, its heart filled with regret, fear and confusion.

All of this will become an indelible memory for him in the future.

Afterwards, Kushiro Masahiro was like a walking corpse, caught up in the fleeing troops.

It didn't know who was in command, it just knew it had to follow the team. It didn't even know the troops were bombarded by mortars from the air, it just knew where everyone was running, it would run there too.

It was not until it fled to Cheng'an County that it threw away its quilt, regained some strength, and rushed to the command center sneezing.

I quickly changed into cleaner clothes, washed my hands, face and feet, but there was still a stink.

I can't care about so many things. It smells okay. I have already adapted to it anyway.

Looking at the embarrassed troops in front of it, it felt angry and helpless.

It knew that it had lost this battle miserably.

"Report to His Excellency, the Brigade Commander!" A signalman hurried in, his voice filled with an urgent need that could not be ignored, holding tightly in his hand a sealed order, "The commander of the 72nd Infantry Battalion urgently conveys the latest instructions from the North China Front Command."

It carefully unfolded the order, its voice trembling slightly due to nervousness, "Enemy armored forces have been discovered near Shimen. The headquarters requires us to immediately move north and carry out a rear-attack mission to lift the siege of Shimen."

Shinji Ranki slowly waved his hand, signaling the signalman to retreat.

The signalman took the order and left the room briskly, leaving the room solemn.

Shinji Kushiro sat back heavily on the wooden chair that had witnessed countless battles, staring ahead with empty eyes, as if he had penetrated time and space and saw the impending despair.

Its face was haggard, with a bitter smile on its lips, and mixed feelings in its heart:

"What the hell! And we're fighting against an armored force! Even those ordinary PLA infantry have put us in such a mess, and now they want us to fight against their most elite armored forces?"

Its words are full of helplessness and self-mockery, as if it is an unwillingness to accept fate and an accusation against the cruelty of reality.

A staff officer was obviously confused by such an order. He asked cautiously, "Then... Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, are we disobeying the direct order of the North China Front Command?"

In his words, there is both awe for the authority of superiors and struggle with the difficulties of reality.

Shinji Ranki shook his head and tapped the table lightly with his fingers. Every tap seemed to hit everyone's heart, making people feel uneasy.

Its eyes gradually focused, as if it had found some delicate balance after careful consideration.

"No, we cannot disobey orders."

He spoke slowly, his voice was soft but full of unquestionable determination, "But we can't just blindly die. Order the troops to turn north and head straight for Shimen, but the action must be cautious, and the reconnaissance range must be expanded to ten kilometers to ensure that we can detect any threats in advance."

Its decision was more about finding a safer retreat route than supporting Shimen.

Masahiro Ranki knew very well that facing the well-equipped PLA armored forces, a head-on confrontation would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

In its heart, it might have been quietly calculating how to maneuver skillfully, how to preserve the strength of the entire team while getting as far away from this seemingly unwinnable battle as possible and returning to the relatively safe original base.

The atmosphere in the operations room changed subtly with the decision of Ushio Shinji. Everyone knew that this seemingly northward support operation was actually a carefully planned retreat.

Behind this great retreat lies the desire for survival and a deep understanding of the cruel reality of war.