212: High-speed assault

Yuepu Town, shrouded in morning mist.

Outside the small water town with its dense network of waterways, officers and soldiers of the 122nd Division were making their final pre-battle preparations under the cover of the heavy fog.

The troops, having just finished an intense battle, were assembling here, preparing to launch another surprise attack.

The expressions of the officers and soldiers were slightly weary, but their spirits were exceptionally high.

Lu Fan was counting the battle results and casualties with Feng Tiankui, Feng Hanqing, and others.

Relying on the advantage of a surprise night attack, overwhelming firepower, and night vision equipment, combined with Lu Fan's repeated emphasis on tactics.

Facing an entire Japanese division, the 122nd Division had only paid the price of 7 killed and 233 wounded.

Yet they had nearly annihilated the enemy's Thirteenth Division; this was undoubtedly a staggering victory.

“The brothers are all good men!” Feng Tiankui's eyes grew red as he looked at the statistics.

He felt heartache for the lost elites, but even more excitement for this unprecedented achievement.

Afterward, several people gathered by the river to discuss the next plan.

“It's almost dawn, and our time is running out.” Lu Fan looked at the touch of white lighting up the horizon.

“Brother Lu, just say what needs to be done!” Feng Tiankui said with a solemn face.

Lu Fan lit a cigarette and took a deep drag: “We must use this final period to push the motorcycles' mobility to the limit.

In a moment, you will use the motorcycles to launch a high-speed assault.

Specifically tear through the weak points of the Japanese defensive lines; hit and run, do not get bogged down.

There is only one goal: before 7 o'clock, create as much chaos as possible, kill their effective strength, and destroy their command nodes.

At exactly 7 o'clock, regardless of the results, all units must break contact and withdraw to the designated area to rest.

Ensure we avoid the enemy's aerial and artillery advantages!”

“Understood!” Several people nodded heavily and immediately relayed the orders.

At 4:20 AM, on Baoshan Road, at the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army Headquarters.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like it could drip water.

Commander Matsui Iwane's face was ashen, the tip of his command sword thudding against the floor with a dull sound.

Before him, a group of staff officers stood with their heads bowed, as silent as cicadas in winter.

“baka! Useless! You are all useless!” Matsui Iwane's roar made the window frames rattle.

“A full-strength division! An elite division of the Empire! In one night, in the Luodian area, it was nearly wiped out!

And you don't even know who the enemy is? Where they came from? How many there are? What are you all good for?!”

He could not understand; even if the Thirteenth Division's defensive positions weren't impregnable, they were certainly not easily broken.

How could they be completely crushed in such a short time?

How could they not even send back a decent early warning or enemy situation report?

This was simply an insult to the intelligence of the Imperial Army.

Just then, a communications staff officer rushed in, his face pale, even forgetting to shout his report: “Your Excellency, Commander!

Emergency battle report! A company of the 3rd Division stationed in the Yunchuan Highway area was ambushed by an unknown unit, and all have achieved gyokusai!

According to on-site surveys, this force is... is the same unit that launched the attack on Luodian.”

“What? The same unit?” Matsui Iwane suddenly looked up. “Yunchuan Highway, how far is that from Luodian?”

“More... more than fifteen kilometers... and there are many river networks in between...” The staff officer's voice was trembling.

“Fifteen kilometers... Huangpu River...” Matsui Iwane muttered to himself.

The rage on his face was gradually replaced by an unbelievable horror.

His brain rapidly calculated the time: how long had it been since the battle at Luodian ended?

What kind of unit could complete a transfer, reorganization, and resupply in such a short time,

and then launch such a fierce attack again?

This had completely exceeded his understanding of wartime mobility.

This was not a division-level operation at all.

This was entirely a ghost with terrifying deployment and striking capabilities.

An icy chill instantly shot up his spine.

Before he could recover from this shocking news,

another piece of bad news followed: “Report! Your Excellency, Commander!

The Chinese Army Central Army's 87th and 88th Divisions have taken advantage of our army's chaos.

They have launched fierce counterattacks on many of our positions; our army is being attacked from both front and back!”

“Bastard!” Matsui Iwane slammed his fist onto the table.

He forced himself to calm down; he had to resolve that mysterious unit immediately, or the entire front line would be in danger of collapsing.

He gritted his teeth and issued combat orders: “Order a portion of the 11th Division to block the 87th and 88th Divisions.

Naval vessels, immediately conduct saturation shelling on the areas where the mysterious unit attacked; destroy this unit at all costs.”

The first thing he thought of was the Imperial Navy's invincible naval guns.

But the operations staff officer immediately responded bitterly: “Your Excellency, I'm afraid it will be very difficult... frontline reports say

the enemy is entirely composed of extremely fast motorcycles, their movement patterns are completely irregular, and their speed is very high.

Naval guns simply cannot lock onto effective targets; the shelling effect is likely to be...”

“Then call the aviation units! Take off immediately! Destroy them from the air!” Matsui Iwane practically roared.

“Your Excellency... it is not yet dawn, visibility is extremely low, and planes cannot take off. We must wait until it is fully light at least...”

The staff officer's voice grew lower and lower.

“baka yaro!” Matsui Iwane felt a wave of powerless rage; he had never fought such a frustrating battle.

The enemy was like a slippery loach, biting you hard at the most uncomfortable time and place,

while all your heavy punches landed on thin air.

Suddenly, Matsui Iwane snapped to attention, his eyes widening as he looked at the map, a thought surfacing in his mind.

“The target of this mysterious armed force is his own headquarters!”

He grabbed the phone and roared, issuing a death order to the army units: “Tell the 3rd Division and the 6th Division!

Reinforce the headquarters at all costs, set up layers of defenses in echelon formation, surround and annihilate this hateful Chinese Army.

Use a mountain of men if you have to, pile them to death! You must not let them slip away again!”

However, the battle reports coming back from the front were more despairing each time:

“Report! The enemy's mobility is too fast; our intercepting units simply cannot keep up!”

“Report! The enemy's firepower is extremely fierce; our army is completely suppressed in encounter battles!”

“Report! They are attacking in a decentralized manner with no pattern; our army cannot judge their main direction of attack, and the defensive line has been penetrated in multiple places!

Report! They have retreated, leaving toward the southwest!

Report! The opponent is fully motorized; it's impossible to pursue!”

These reports converged on Matsui Iwane, sketching out an army he completely failed to understand.

All of this left the Imperial Army, which possessed the advantages of heavy artillery, naval vessels, and aircraft,

with plenty of strength but nowhere to apply it, only able to be passively carved up and bled.

Matsui Iwane slumped back into his chair and, with lingering fear, ordered: “Do not pursue. Hold the defensive lines and conduct a frontal defense.

Additionally, notify the 3rd and 6th Divisions to fully encircle and suppress the Central Army's 87th and 88th Divisions!”

After issuing the instructions, he collapsed into his chair as if all his strength had been drained, staring blankly at the still-gray sky outside the window.

For the first time, a shadow of uncertainty hung over the Shanghai area war situation.