1928: The Rise of Giants

At dawn on February 2, the Japanese army dispatched more than ten planes to conduct reconnaissance and bombing over the Miaohang position. The naval guns and army heavy artillery bombarded the Miaohang position fiercely.

At the same time, Japanese artillery bombarded the Yunzaobang position fiercely, attempting to force a crossing of Yunzaobang to support the Miaoxing operation.

At nine o'clock in the morning, part of the Japanese army approached the front of the Xiaochang Temple to Maijiazhai position and launched a fire search on the 19th Route Army's position.

At noon, 3000 Japanese troops launched an attack. The 527th Regiment defending the Maijiazhai and Zhuyuandun positions fought back, and the Miaohang Battle began.

During this crucial battle, the principal was directly in charge of the Jinling Command Center and used radio remote control to command Chen Mingshu and others to be on high alert and not let the Japanese invaders cross Yunzaobang, otherwise Zhabei would be in danger.

In order to better resist the invasion of the Japanese invaders, the Tax Police Corps was divided into three groups to support the soldiers of the 19th Route Army in various positions, using terrifying and powerful firepower to block the Japanese invaders' attacks by sea, land and air.

After the direct conflict broke out, the equipment advantage and soldier strength of the Tax Police Corps were undoubtedly demonstrated. More than 5 people actually created the effect of a -strong army of tigers and wolves.

After three hours of fierce fighting, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties and was unable to fight again, so they retreated to their original positions.

Subsequently, the Japanese army sent more than 2000 people to attack the Xiaochangmiao and Jinjiatang positions. The 523rd Regiment took shelter in the trenches and with the support of the Tax Police Corps, they once again repelled the Japanese army.

After dusk, the Japanese infantry stopped attacking, but naval and land artillery continued to bombard our positions in an attempt to destroy our fortifications and manpower so that they could continue the attack the next day.

In any case, the successful defense on February 2 gave the National Army great confidence that the Japanese divisions were not invincible. If they died too many people, they would become afraid and retreat.

Taking this opportunity, the principal immediately sent a telegram to the entire army to encourage the soldiers, and quickly distributed the supplies donated by Ye Luo and other Shanghai businessmen to the front line to comfort the troops.

On February 2, Japanese artillery continued to bombard the positions of the 21th Division of the Fifth Army in Miaohang.

Subsequently, thousands of Japanese infantrymen launched an attack on the line of Yanjiazhai and Miaohang Town.

When the Japanese army approached, the 523rd and 524th Regiments fought back bravely and repelled the Japanese army.

Afterwards, a large number of enemy troops coordinated in depth and launched a full-line attack on the line of Maijiazhai, Zhuyuandun, Xiaochangmiao and Yanjiazhai south of Miaohang. The 523rd, 524th and 527th Regiments engaged in fierce battles with the enemy. Among them, the fighting on the Zhuyuandun front where Maijiazhai and Xu Xu were located was particularly fierce.

After another day of hard fighting and with the cooperation of many parties, the National Army once again repelled the Japanese army. Morale was greatly boosted and many parties celebrated.

Ye’s investment also became famous thanks to the assistance of the Tax Police Corps and large quantities of military supplies.

In recent times of material aid, Ye Luo had people print the Ye Investment trademark and company name on the material packaging. Not only could our soldiers see it, but the Japanese invaders also witnessed the terrifying financial strength of Ye Investment.

On the evening of February 2, Ye Luo further subdivided the relief supplies. For example, this batch was donated by Ye’s Film Company, and this batch was donated by Ye’s Clothing Company. He directly monopolized the advertisements for military supplies.

On February 2, the Japanese 22th Division went out in full force to attack the Miaohang position of the 88th Division of the th Army. Aircraft bombing continued all day long, and thousands of artillery shells bombarded the defenders' positions.

However, under the personal command of Zhang Zhizhong, the enemy suffered a crushing defeat under the four-sided attack of the Tax Police Corps, Sun Yuanliang's Brigade, Song Xilian's Brigade and the 61st Division of the th Route Army, and the Miaohang position was finally saved.

Among them, the First Battalion of the Tax Police Corps led by Wen Yingxing took the initiative to attack the elite of the Japanese Ninth Division and the Kurume Mixed Brigade. In the surprise attack, relying on powerful firepower and the bravery of the soldiers, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties.

This is the "Miaoxing Victory"!
In the following days, although the Japanese army continued to bombard and attack, they were all repelled by the defenders.

By the 25th, Ueda's general offensive plan had also failed.

Seeing the breakthrough in the war, the president was overjoyed and immediately sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nanjing National Government, asking them to quickly contact the British, French, American and other powers, hoping that these powers could organize a new round of talks. On the evening of February 2, Gu Weijun, the diplomatic representative of Nanjing, at the request of the British Fleet Commander in China, Cayley, accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the 28th Route Army, Huang Qiang, went to the British ship "Kent" to meet with the Japanese Navy Commander Nomura and the Japanese Prime Minister's personal representative Matsuoka Yosuke.

Under the mediation of Kelley, the two sides negotiated for three hours and reached five understandings: "1. Both sides withdraw at the same time; 2. No proposal should be made to permanently remove the Wusong or Lion Grove Forts; 3. The withdrawal of both sides will be monitored by the Sino-Japanese Committee together with the Neutral Countries Inspection Group; 4. The withdrawal area will continue to be governed by officials from Nanjing, and public order will be maintained by the Songhu Police Department; 5. The National Army will withdraw to Zhenru, and the Japanese Army will withdraw to the International Settlement and the road construction area across the border. After the above-mentioned withdrawal of both sides is completed, the National Army will withdraw to Nanxiang and the Japanese Army will withdraw to the ship (this last point will be discussed in the future meeting). It was also agreed that if both sides agree to this hypothetical understanding, the formal diplomatic and military representatives of both sides will hold another formal meeting to complete this measure."

On the 29th, the Nanjing National Government responded by agreeing to the five points, but the Japanese side did not respond.

Seeing that mediation was going to take place, the 19th Route Army also began to recuperate and wait for good news.

Ye Luo, who was well-versed in history, quickly called the principal, asking him not to let his guard down and ordering the front lines to continue to be vigilant against the Japanese invaders.

These bastards never keep their word. They will definitely launch a surprise attack during the negotiation period and disrupt our rhythm.

Unfortunately, the principal's mind was full of negotiations, victories, and the subsequent division of benefits. After replying to Ye Luo hastily, he did not inform the four commanders of the 19th Route Army.

Ye Luo had no choice but to ask the staff of the Ye’s fleet that was transporting the supplies to find a way to notify Wen Yingxing, at least to tell the Tax Police Corps not to let down their guard to avoid suffering heavy losses.

Just as Ye Luo expected.

In early March, the Japanese army launched a surprise attack and landed in Liuhe. The 3th Route Army and the supporting Vanguard Corps suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat to the second line of defense.

Only the Tax Police Corps led by Wen Yingxing gave advance warning and fought back and forth with the Japanese army, but eventually due to the Allied retreat, they had to abandon their positions and return to the second line of defense.

On March 3, the Japanese army captured the urban area and suburbs of Shanghai County.

On March 3, the Japanese army declared a ceasefire after occupying Zhenru and Nanxiang.

The sudden defeat put the principal in the spotlight again. Fortunately, this time the decisive resistance and the soldiers' bravery in killing the enemy resulted in over 10,000 casualties among the Japanese army.

The emergence of this war situation caused the so-called international reputation of the once arrogant Japanese army to plummet, and they were forced to accept international mediation in the end.

Before the war, the Japanese army threatened to "occupy Zhabei in three hours" and "take over Shanghai in twelve hours", and their arrogance was very arrogant.

They felt that this war would be as successful as the Mukden Incident, and the invasion of Shanghai would be completed smoothly.

But this time they miscalculated, and the huge losses forced the Japanese army to retreat.

The principal's face was finally saved.

After the armistice, the Japanese troops remained stationed in the suburbs, county towns and Zhabei until the armistice agreement was signed in May, and they would slowly withdraw their troops from April.

During this period, the Japanese invaders burned, killed and looted the places they occupied without any hesitation. Although they did not do it so blatantly or excessively, they still claimed hundreds of innocent lives and destroyed a large number of factories and Chinese companies.

Ye Luo remembered that they would have to wait until July to completely withdraw their troops.

Only then will these areas return to their pre-war state.

As the armistice agreement was signed, the merchants in the concession realized how outrageous Ye Luo's decision to withdraw from Ye's investment in the concession was! (End of this chapter)