It is hard to imagine that in Shanghai, known as the "Ten Mile Ocean Field", once there is a lack of neon lights, ballroom dancing, jazz drums, and a variety of ambiguous fragrances in the air, will the bright color of the spring breeze be lost in an instant?

It is a great pity that on December 24, 1934, Christmas Eve before Christmas, which was supposed to be the most romantic and charming night, the entire upper class society of Shanghai Tang was immersed in the fear of the approaching Red Army. The Paramount Ballroom, known as the "Rose-colored Dream" and popular for a whole generation, also closed its doors in a panic.

-- The romance and extravagance in the urban style of old Shanghai seem to have been dispelled by the iron-blooded storm of revolution and struggle in an instant......

However, in this panicked atmosphere, there are also people who feel jubilant because of this, and they look like a gift package from heaven.

Shanghai Hongkou Japanese Concession, No. 2121 North Sichuan Road, Japanese Marine Corps Headquarters

In the dark night, this fortified fortress of reinforced concrete is like a beast that wants to devour people, looking at the prosperous scene around it.

-- As one of the most important bridgeheads for aggression against China, Shanghai was of extraordinary significance to Japan in the era of militarism.

Since the end of the Sino-Japanese War at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese army has been stationed here for a long time to send fleets, and often sailors have gone ashore to suppress the famous May Day Movement. In 1927, the Japanese Navy sent three battalions of marines to Shanghai, first preventing the Northern Expeditionary Army from entering the Japanese concession. He also sent troops to Shandong and participated in the Japanese army's attack on the Northern Expeditionary Army in Jinan in May 1928.

When the flames of the Northern Expedition were gradually subsiding. The Japanese army did not transfer this unit back to the mainland, but chose its elite to be stationed in Shanghai in June 1928. Officially organized into the "Shanghai Marine Corps", under the command of the "China Dispatch Fleet", and equipped with heavy weapons, including British-made Vickers wheeled armored vehicles, it was considered to be quite combat-effective. In 1932, it was also this unit that single-handedly provoked the "128" incident.

In October 1932, after the 128 Incident subsided, the Japanese Navy issued the "Special Marine Corps Order", upgrading the Shanghai Garrison to the "Shanghai Special Marine Corps" and expanding it into an independent combat unit with six brigades (including one artillery brigade) and a number of directly subordinate and detachment units. At the same time, the Marine Corps Headquarters on the North Sichuan Road was rebuilt. It was reinforced with anti-artillery steel plates, making it a very strong combat fortress.

In addition, in the eastern area of the public concession and Hongkou, where the road was built across the border, from the Huishan Wharf to the east to the Qiujiang Wharf, the Japanese military has built bunker-style houses. In Yangshupu, Jiangwan and other places, Japanese schools and factories were full of fortress-like military strongholds, and cannons and machine guns could be erected at any time on solid concrete roofs. And these ordnance are usually hidden in the basement.

Therefore. Unlike Wu Tiecheng, the panicked Kuomintang mayor of Shanghai, Rear Admiral Okawa Uchiden, commander of the Japanese "Shanghai Special Marine Corps" in Hongkou, and Vice Admiral Hasegawa Kiyoshi, commander of the Third Fleet (China Dispatch Fleet), were holding their wine glasses and looking confident and full of ambition.

-- It is different from the Japanese Army, which is "dirty and dirty." The Japanese Navy, which studied under Britain and the United States and admired European style, naturally learned the customs of Christmas from British teachers. Although he was caught off guard by the "anti-Japanese declaration" of the Shina Red Bandits this morning, the preparations for the Christmas dinner have been completed. Invitations to the dignitaries of the concession had already been sent out, and even roast chickens, cakes, and Christmas trees had been arranged. And the China bandit has become a Scud. It is estimated that there is no way to run from Suzhou to Shanghai in just one day...... Therefore, a general mobilization order was urgently issued for the entire Japanese concession. While the armed expatriates of the concession were being conscripted into the army, the Christmas dinner at the Marine Corps Headquarters at No. 2121 North Sichuan Road was still held as usual.

Under the bright lights, the military band played cheerful European and American pop music, a group of Japanese naval officers and colonels wore snow-white military uniforms, and the long table covered with tablecloths was full of all kinds of foreign wine and Chinese, Japanese, and Western delicacies.

“…… Ladies and gentlemen, this time the Nanjing government army in China was slack, incompetent, and connived at the Red Bandits in China to flow into Shanghai, forcing Britain and the United States to relax their clamping on China's Shanghai garrison, which is really a God-given opportunity for China to expand its territory and carry forward the imperial prestige in South China! ”

Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa, who had just led the Third Fleet from Taiwan not long ago, held a glass of brandy in his hand, with a little drunkenness, and said with a big grin, "...... Our invincible Imperial Japanese Army must not only thwart all enemy attacks, defeat the Red Bandits, hold Hongkou, and earnestly ensure the safety of the lives and property of 30,000 overseas Chinese, but also take the opportunity to sweep through Songhu and ask the authorities in Nanjing for their guilt! Carry forward the spirit of the Imperial Kingdom......"

Unlike the rhetoric and empty rhetoric of Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa, commander of the fleet dispatched to China, the speech of Rear Admiral Okawa Uchiden, commander of the Shanghai Special Marine Corps, was much more pragmatic. In order to dispel the misgivings in the hearts of the Japanese overseas Chinese in the Hongkou Concession and strengthen their determination to support the Marine Corps in "carrying forward the imperial prestige," Okawa Nei Chuanqi set up a sand table at the banquet and gave a rough introduction to the deployment and combat of the Shanghai Special Marine Corps.

-- At this time, the Shanghai Special Marine Corps had about 2,800 soldiers in its establishment, and it could be expanded to about 4,000 after urgently recruiting the armed expatriate "volunteers" (in fact, retired soldiers and Black Dragon Ronin) in the concession. At present, this force is all concentrated in Hongkou and Yangshupu, with the Third Fleet anchored on the Huangpu River in its back, and the front is directly facing the Zhabei and Jiangwan areas of the Huajie in downtown Shanghai.

According to the deployment of Major General Dachuan Neichuan, the defensive position of the Marine Corps started from Huishan Wharf, along Wusong Road, North Sichuan Road, Jiangwan Road, and ended at Hongkou Park and its nearby Marine Corps headquarters, forming a "long snake"; It is headed by the Marine Corps Headquarters Building and ended at Huishan Wharf. The Gongda Yarn Factory, located on the Military Road, is the main military support point for its outer line. The Marine Corps Headquarters building and the Huishan Wharf are the two core positions. Because the former is the location of the command center of its troops, and the latter is the main channel connecting its land forces with the river fleet.

Of course. In order to protect the safety of the entire Hongkou Japanese Concession, the Japanese army strengthened fortifications in addition to the above-mentioned positions. It is also planned to recruit armed expatriates into the army, and then dispatch some troops to expand the outlying positions and build temporary strongholds and barricades in Hongkou Park, Gongda Yarn Mill, Japanese Navy Playground, Navy Club, Fine Printing Factory, Taikang Flour Mill, and other places. At the same time, a task force of 500 people was dispatched to Zhabei Railway Station to obtain first-hand information on the approach of the red bandits and wait for an opportunity to move. If the red bandits just shook a shot, then they could take advantage of the situation and swallow the entire Zhabei Huajie in one go.

As a matter of fact, a considerable number of the officers of the Young Zhuang faction were very dissatisfied with such a "conservative" combat jihua, and they considered the Ichina army to be cowardly and inferior. Since the Imperial Japanese Army is invincible, now that it has the opportunity to use force, it should be like Ishihara Wan'er, who provoked the "September 18 Incident" in the past, to attack Suzhou and even Nanjing in one go, and take advantage of the chaos to gnaw down the Yangtze River Delta, the richest region in China......

Unfortunately, in the last "128" incident, the marines in Shanghai were beaten by the 19th Route Army and were not as arrogant as the Kwantung Army; And the 10th Army of the Red Bandits, which attacked this time, is said to have Soviet ironclad vehicles and strange ironmen to help, and is also equipped with aircraft...... Of course. For such illogical stupid words, the officers of the Japanese Marine Corps naturally scoffed, believing that the Kuomintang army was talking nonsense. However, after all, the Japanese navy is not as arrogant as the army, and it can barely figure out how many pounds and taels it has.

In a word. In view of the fact that the enemy's situation is almost completely unknown, and that one's own forces are stretched thin, there is no clear attitude in the country. Lieutenant General Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Major General Zuihou of Okawa Neichuan still excluded the interference of those young officers of the Shaozhuang faction and adopted a relatively conservative combat strategy: if they entered, they swept Zhabei and Wusongkou and other places. He even sent a fleet deep into the Yangtze River to deter Nanjing. Under the pretext of "defensive redness", the scope of Japan's shili in Shanghai was further expanded; If you retreat, you will have your back on the Huangpu River and rely on the firepower of the fleet to defend it to the death, at least you can ensure the safety of the Hongkou Japanese Concession.

Therefore, after Major General Okawa Uchidenqi explained his moderate combat jihua, the leading figures in the Japanese concession were also relieved, thinking that the marines defending them would at least not capsize in the gutter because of the "rampage...... But what they didn't know was that on the night of December 24, these defenses were almost dead letter—no way, all military operations needed time to prepare. Due to the surprise in advance, the authorities in the Japanese concession did not issue an emergency call order until this morning, and many retired "volunteers" did not have time to rush to the barracks to report. And the preset positions and military strongholds are also empty at the moment, and ammunition, machine guns, and rapid-fire guns have not had time to be moved.

Even the soldiers who were scheduled to be stationed at the Zhabei Railway Station were still stranded in the permanent camps at the Gongda Yarn Factory and Huishan Wharf on Christmas Eve, and had not yet been mobilized - according to the officers, since the meals and snacks had been prepared, the soldiers had to be allowed to eat this Christmas dinner before setting off anyway...... Anyway, with the inferiority and cowardice of the Echina, it shouldn't matter much if it's one day earlier or one day later......

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On the other hand, in the entire public concession and the French concession in Shanghai, which should have the most Christmas atmosphere, it is a bleak scene full of sorrow at this time. Under martial law, shops, dance halls and clubs mostly closed early, and the colorful neon lights were extinguished on this night.

There are also tens of thousands of war refugees who have been driven out of their homes, braving the biting cold winds and touching their hungry bellies, trudging through the streets of the Public Concession, plus the thieves and thugs who take advantage of the fire to rob them...... As night fell, a light snow fell in the sky, making these poor people hiding under the eaves shiver from the cold, and it also smeared this Western festival that was supposed to be a reunion of thousands of families, with a wisp of absurd and miserable color.

However, in the luxurious mansion of Mr. Anold, the general director of the Public Concession Ministry of Works, all cold and hunger seemed to be isolated from the walls.

Unlike the Japanese Marine Corps Command, which was largely functional, Mr. Arnold's mansion was full of his master's wealth, upbringing, and learning—the number of servants who came and went, the dusty white tablecloths that changed every day in the dining room, the beautiful silverware that glittered with silverware, and the richly patterned sofas. Heavy, intricately carved wooden doors, inlaid gold wire floors and ceilings. Furniture decorated with gold leaf patterns, gilt frames. The four-walled billiard room with dim lighting, the large oil paintings on the walls, the staggered shiny brass candlesticks, the huge curtains embroidered with gorgeous floral patterns, and the Christmas tree that is more than four meters high, as well as various colored lights and ribbons decorated on the tree...... Even the plush carpets on the floor look like they are imported from India or Persia.

In short, the whole hall is full of golden light, and it is warmed by the heating. Illuminated by the crystal chandelier, he became more and more drunk. Countless brightly dressed and personable men and women danced and chatted here, and their colorful jewels reflected a little bit of brilliance. The table covered with a crisp white tablecloth is filled with hearty and delicious food: English grilled bacon, tuna salad, caviar, lamb chops, chocolate cake, creamy scallops, tiramisu...... The spices and the tantalising flavours of the food meet. The smoke is almost intoxicating.

However, in the midst of this extravagant and flashy hedonistic atmosphere, Yu Qiaqing, the famous Shanghai Tang tycoon. Chairman Chiang, an important supporter in Shanghai's financial circles, looked sullen and just holding a glass of champagne. Pacing around with a straight face, looking like no one is close.

- Despite the fact that an English friend tried to persuade him to go down and do a ballroom dance.

“…… Look at that. The beats of the Indian tambourine, the music of a jazz band. Dancing and swaying - this is joy, this is life! ”

The British friend who had drunk a few more glasses of whiskey said to Yu Qiaqing happily while gesturing exaggeratedly, and at the same time did not forget to glance at a beautiful blonde girl with a bright complexion a few steps away, "...... Trust me, friend, no matter how many worries you have in your heart, just find a beautiful lady to dance a few dances and the mood will be much more comfortable. ”

“…… Sorry, but the contemptible people really don't have the interest! Yu Qiaqing smiled bitterly, "...... The red elements are about to hit Shanghai, where do the contemptible people still have the heart to have fun? Chairman Jiang of Nanchang is whimsical again, and regards me, the 'barefoot God of Wealth', as an omnipotent Buddha......"

-- Since the Red Tenth Army cut off the telegraph line between Nanjing and Shanghai, Yu Qiaqing had no choice but to use his private radio station to communicate with Chairman Chiang, who was camping in Nanchang, and then he was assigned an impossible task by the anxious old Chiang: to unite the garrisons of Britain, France, the United States, and Japan in Shanghai, the irregular armed forces in the concession, and the remnants of the Kuomintang armed forces to form a coalition army to "fight the red scourge together"!

Such a desperate request really made Yu Qiaqing angry and happy -- not to mention whether the foreigners from all over the world on the beach would buy the account of you, the "ruler of an uncivilized country", and use the precious overseas garrison to help you suppress the bandits...... Chairman Chiang, when you signaled us to ask for help from the Japanese army, did you consider the current public opinion environment in China?! Even the remnants of the police and security team under Mayor Wu Tiecheng, because they were still a little shameless in their hearts, were in an uproar when they learned that they were going to fight side by side with the Japanese, and they escaped seven or eight times on the spot!

At present, Mayor Wu Tiecheng has fled, and the entire Shanghai market is also in chaos, only the concession barely maintains a little order...... When the Great Revolution broke out in 1927, the British mobilized 16,000 troops to station in Shanghai, and the workers' pickets that had expelled the Beiyang Army did not dare to talk nonsense. But now there are only such a small number of troops in the concession, and Tianxiao is scared to stop the red bandits who are about to be killed......

“…… Dear friends, rest assured that Colonel Graham's Merchant Corps, as well as Brigadier General Zacre's 1st Royal Inniskilling Musket Battalion and the 2nd Wing of the Worcestershire Infantry Regiment (British in Shanghai), were absolutely capable of securing the Concession. His British friend was calm.

“…… Oh, is it? Yu Qiaqing looked up and saw Colonel Grahan flattering a noble lady in every possible way, while Brigadier General Zacre was lying at the table drunk and drunk," ...... But why didn't the two of them go down to supervise the preparations, but instead drank and danced here and had fun? ”

“…… Hi! You're in such a hurry! The Red Molecule is still far from here! They weren't Santa Claus, and they could fly from the sky on a reindeer sleigh. His English friend rolled his eyes disapprovingly, then smiled at the other pretty young lady, "...... This beautiful young lady, Merry_Christmas (Merry Christmas) ......"

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At the same time, on the roof of the 83.8-meter-high Shanghai International Hotel, the tallest building in Shanghai at that time, with 22 floors, a group of vampires who came across time and space were using remote control equipment to operate the laser pointers on several unmanned helicopters, aiming at every Japanese army assembly place for irradiation.

“…… OK！ All targets are locked on, and the enemy is unguarded...... Please send a Christmas gift...... Understand that the gift has been sent ......"

Miss Margaret, the vampire true ancestor, calmly put away the wireless intercom, and then threw a flying kiss at the Hongkou Japanese Concession that was lit up in the distance:

“…… Merry_Christmas (Merry Christmas)"

The next moment, dozens of kilometers away, on the missile launch site in Anting Town, one after another cruise missiles ready to launch let out bursts of huge roars, spewing out dazzling orange-red flames from the tail, rushing out of the guide rails erected on the ground one after another, and roaring towards the big city of Shanghai that never sleeps in the east...... (To be continued......)